YOU ARE EXALTED!
by Baran3
Summary: Crossover Worm/Exalted. The setting of Worm is grimdark. Various CYOA tried to bring light in the setting and most won. An SI is sent by a peculiar ROB. Let the light of the Unconquered Sun shines upon Earth Bet.
1. Prologue

**You are Exalted!**

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this fiction.

Note: The character is a pseudo self-insert sent into the Worm setting as a Solar Exalt.

Prologue:

Two beings spiral through the starry void. As they approach their chosen world, they shatter, and countless shards seed that world and its alternates, taking root in the minds of the desperate and the broken, giving them power beyond mere humanity, at the cost of constant conflict.

The beings have done this countless time; the cycle is older than our species. But all things must end. Something goes wrong, a dark stranger, another entity intervenes, and one being falls. Its mate remains, much reduced and bereft of all purpose.

The last, broken cycle grinds pointlessly on, driving a thousand Earths to destruction. And that's where I choose you to come in. I selected you and I dropped you into the eye of the storm: Earth Bet, some years before one Taylor Hebert's trigger...

Yes, you have been chosen to alter the path of destiny. I didn't choose you out of malice or just because I could or not even for the sake of my own entertainment. I didn't choose you because you are the best or the worst. I didn't choose you randomly or under thousands of criteria.

I choose you because you know that this particular setting need it. I choose you because you are one of the numerous people who understand the world of "Worm". I choose you because you are not alone, your peers watch, think, read and write about this and will continue to do so. I choose you because you are me and I am you on some levels.

A very long time ago, before even Time as you understand it exists, I was Supreme, I was Unconquered and I shone how so brightly. I was brought down by my own hubris and by the shadows of others and as the Aeons and Ages passed I ceased to be what I was. I am now nothing more than slivers dispersed through the entire Multiverse, mere ideas and concepts and a few times words springing from the imagination of Humanity.

You who have been called a hundred names and will be called a thousand more before this world like the late others goes dim and cold. You who have been killed a million times and returned every time. You who fight for Truth, for Justice, for Glory, for Love and for Hope.

I name you Hero. I grant you a new life. I choose you to be above all the others. I ask you to banish the Darkness. I deliver the fate of all of Creation into your hands. I bid you to shine rightly and show the way to others. I want you to turn the eyes of your heart to this world. And I wish that you fan the spark of Hope within your being into a roaring flame for all of Humanity.

Rise my child and breathe your first and second Breath, for...

YOU ARE EXALTED!

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Notes: It's been a long time since I wrote something, anything.

Well, I hope you'll enjoy something new.

As for my other stories, I don't know if I will write something but, well I'm writing at least.


	2. Exaltation 1

**You are Exalted!**

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story.

Arc 1: Exaltation.

Chapter 1.1: Arrival in... splash..?

July 22, 2009. Madison, Wisconsin.

The Simurgh unfolded her wings as she continued on her plan. Well, plans was a better name for the quasi three-dimensional canvas she was using with her quantum perception of the universe.

Her senses weren't of humanity; they couldn't be. She saw the past as one could read a book in one's hands. She sensed the future as a myriad of potentialities and probabilities. The simplest waving of one of her asymmetrical wings could make a mother plunge a knife into her newborn baby years into the future.

Her "song" was a by-product of a macro-scale telekinetic field applying a localized micro-effect into the nerve tissues of every sentient being within a mile. Using her post-cognition coupled with her precognition, she could "program" a human being into a living Rube-Goldberg device capable of long term destructive actions.

Her goal wasn't hers. She was merely a puppet, a drone programmed by the subconscious of one who chose to become the greatest of heroes and wanted to have "worthy enemies". Well he should be content; she and her siblings weren't using their whole strength.

She raised one wing to shield herself as a beam of golden light speared through the clouds. Scion, or more exactly the avatar of Zion, their progenitor, was using a ray that was unravelling the links and bonds between the very constituents of the atoms of the crystalline matter that composed her pseudo-body. Feathers glowed orange-gold as they were blasted free, disintegrating into tiny sparks and motes of light as the remains drifted away.

Nothing to it since it was only the first layer. As long as her core remained intact, she was at 100%. Her wings reached their maximum extensions as she prepared the next phase of...

 _Discontinuation..._

...her plan... What..?

The Simurgh reallocated almost all of her perceptions into high gear as she examined the anomaly and what it could meant. She didn't even focus on her telekinetic field and all the beings fighting her paused an instant as her "psychic scream" abruptly stopped. Scion didn't stop and his golden beam struck again. The Simurgh reacted by moving one of her main three wings as a shield and used the momentum of the beam to throw herself away. A sonic boom shattered the few remaining windows as the third Endbringer flew at maximum speed into the relative refuge of low earth orbit.

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July 22, 2009. 12 AM local. Yonaguni island, Yaeyama cluster, Ryukyu islands.

The monument was old, very old, at least 10000 years old. Made of sandstone, it was roughly a rectangular formation measuring about 150 meters by 40 meters and about 27 meters tall.

Its origin was lost to the mists of Time and even its constructors' descendants were long passed away. Now, it was a tourist attraction and a scientific puzzle.

And right now, the monument witnessed something that didn't happened for millions of years locally: A total solar eclipse. Of course, it wasn't the only one to see it since also eastern China, India, Nepal and Bangladesh saw it. The longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century with a maximum of 6 minutes and 39 seconds. Too bad no one sentient was here as the dim light of the revealed corona of the sun played strangely on the features of the monument.

Guesses have been made about its structures and some even speculated that it was a remnant of the mythical lost continent of...

 _Discontinuation..._

...Mu.

A column of golden light erupted from a low star-shaped platform as I arrived... and promptly found myself under 5 meters of salt water.

"Wha...glub..."

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Notes: A little less detailed than I wanted at first.

And, yes, I know I changed some details about this particular eclipse, especially the time and a little about the localisation. Also, the Yonaguni monument is really underwater.

This story was inspired by "Why don't you do right" by Cherico, "Cast in gold" by shyft and "Hope comes to Brockton Bay" by Ack.


	3. Exaltation 2

**You are Exalted!**

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story.

Arc 1: Exaltation.

Chapter 1.2: I don't think we're in Kansas, Toto.

I panicked...

Show me anyone who swear that he could remain calm when finding himself suddenly underwater and I will show you a liar.

It was only the light of the sun that I could clearly perceived despite its dimness that prevented my drowning. I reached the surface and coughed up half my lungs. Ha, sweet air.

I floated on my back and looked up the sky and the glorious corona of the crowned sun. So magnificent... I remembered the only total solar eclipse that I saw in France but there was something...

And I remembered.

I remembered the offer, the gift of power and the price to pay. I remembered my precedent life in another part of the Multiverse. I remembered most of what I knew about Earth Bet in the form of memories and emotions. I remembered Creation behind the senses of all the hosts of my Exaltation...

 _My Exaltation_... I lifted my arm and saw a lithe limb glowing with a gentle golden shine. I sensed my Caste mark blazing with glorious hope on my forehead. I felt power like I had never known course through my body. I felt my heart beating with the searing heat of the sun. I felt each of my breaths bringing a mote of Essence.

I. Was. Exalted! I was a Crowned Sun, a Harmonious Voice, a Solar Wind, a Quicksilver Falcon, a Quill of Heaven… The ultimate Jack-of-all-Trades of the Solar Exalts: The Eclipse caste.

"Oh shit!" And I was somewhere in the Worm setting..!

Stop! Stop... Yes, I was in danger. Yes I was in a grim and dark universe, but...

I already won... I ALREADY WON! No matter what would happened in the future, my Exaltation was in this universe. If I died, the divine part of my soul will go to another host and grant him not only my powers but also my memories and my experiences... It was just a question of time and I could ensure to have plenty of time with just a few well-placed words and appropriate actions. And speaking of actions...

I first took a look on myself... Oh dear... I was nude... But not naked: I didn't want to parade without clothes, but the standard social taboo about nudity was... different. Probably because of the too numerous memories in my head... Something to organize later.

I was young, probably nine or ten years old and a girl... A girl..? Once again I felt somewhat indifferent to my gender... Perhaps because Exaltation did not care for the flesh, only for what was inside. My past lives as an Exalt ran the whole gamut of the many mortal races of Creation... And the two sexes of course.

I was fairly sure that my skin was Caucasian despite the glow of my Exaltation. I had very long straight hair of a glorious golden colour. My body was lithe with a firm muscle tone. I couldn't determine my eyes colour yet and my name was...

"Luminous Amber?" I blinked. A rather... Peculiar? Auspicious? Weird name? I blinked again as my memories showed that almost all my precedent names had the same theme about either a Light or Fire aspect mixed with a bird species or a mineral. Even my name when I was a mortal on my Earth meant "Bright Raven". Nevertheless I found curious to have a Creation-based name for my new life.

Oh well, time to see where I was... Wow... Lucky. I could see the coast of the land nearby, perhaps a few hundred meters at worst.

And now for another test. I smiled as I focused on my blazing inner core while thinking what time it was. "12:05 AM local, July 22, 2009..?" I frowned. I knew that every Solar could know the precise hour just by having an intuitive idea of the localisation of the sun in the sky...

Of course! In Creation, seasons and thus the calendar were decided by the various courts of Gods. Here, the seasons depended only and entirely on the exact position between Earth and the Sun. Hey, a little travelling around the world and I would be able to guess where I was since the inclination of the sun rays changed with the geography and the local time.

The light intensity changed and I smiled as the sun ended his date with the moon. Six minutes and thirty seconds: A long time for an eclipse. The rays shone through a big aperture in the clouds and seemed to bless me with their radiance. A particularly bright reflection shone beneath me and I plunged my head underwater to see what it was.

For the second time, I was awed by what I saw in the clear water: A submarine monument made of one big rectangular stone and sculpted on its surface in crude geometric forms. It was vaguely familiar, both in terms of something I saw in my Earth past and something that nagged at my past exaltations. Could this be the remnants of a Manse? There was some correlation between the disposition of the monument's features and Geomancy, the art of manipulating the flows of Essence of the Dragon lines to produce magical effects and/or serve as energy sources. I also perceived the light of the sun reflecting off a very small object on a star-shaped platform.

I felt good... No I was feeling GREAT. I swam down, smiling as I felt my superb body working perfectly and reached the top of the monument very easily: It was only five meters. I reached and took a thumbnail-sized amulet shaped like my caste mark...

Magical materials..! My vision could see the characteristic brilliance of Magical Materials. I was holding a disk of _Adamant_ with interlocked lattices of _Orichalcum_ , _Moonsilver_ , _Starmetal_ and the five varieties of _Jade_... An Infinite Resplendence Amulet... An artefact of the First Age of Creation, capable to generate any form of outfit that I could imagine. More importantly, it was a composite design incorporating four of the five main Magical Materials which gave it an unparalleled versatility.

At the base, it could serve as an armoured cloth with an environmental filter. Orichalcum gave it the ability to generate weaves of solidified light with an astounding palette of colours and textures worthy of a Solar's glory. Moonsilver could provide superior protection and camouflage on demand while extruding outfits as a diaphanous second skin grown from liquid metal tendrils. Starmetal would use my own fate to weave garments with numerous concealed pockets folded in Elsewhere: My very own Hammerspace. Finally Jade was able to unfold from micro-articulated scales to form appropriate and FUNCTIONAL glossy military uniforms for the elite of elite...

Hum... Well, it would have to wait. The process of attuning an artefact required twenty minutes of handling and practising with the item. Not something to do when you are in the sea and nearby land. Time to meet the locals... and NOT thinking about the "JAWS" theme...

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Notes: Not too bad, I think I'm going to write in this vignette format until I have regained my marks.

So, yes, Luminous Amber as a name. Yes, she's a girl. Yes, she's ten years old physically and thousands of years mentally due to the merits "Past Lives" and "Eidetic Memory".

She has ONE artefact, rated at level 5 I grant you. No Heartstones because there are no functional Manses. Dragon lines and Desmenes yes, but no occult harnessing of geomantic energy.

You can also consider what the advantages "Charles Atlas Superpowers" and "Comic Book Pretty" from the Worm CYOA ver3 or the perks "Invictus", "First Impressions" and "Inspiration" from the Worm CYOA ver1 mean to any RPG character.

I choose the Eclipse caste because it's my favourite and I love to play Jack-of-all-trades.

I am also reminded of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in regard to the migration of the Exaltations. A nice parallel between the Slayer spirit and the Exalt spark.

And before you ask, yes her past Exaltations lived in all the periods of Creation and potentially, she had access to all the Exalts classes that existed (Abyssal, Infernal, Dragon-Blooded, Alchemical, Sidereal and Lunar).


	4. Exaltation 3

**You are Exalted!**

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story.

Arc 1: Exaltation.

Chapter 1.3: Yonaguni-Jima.

I laughed as I tried again the modular outfit function of my Infinite Resplendence Amulet. It was a fantastic useful item: Literally all of Fashion of Earth, real or imaginary, past or future, was at my fingertips. Oh, and I now knew that my eyes were blue since I could change part of my outfit into a reflective surface.

I knew that Exalts, especially the Solars, were supposed to be both attractive and charismatic, but frankly I was approaching top records. My face and my overall appearance was in the domain of those who could build an empire or those that rural folk mistook for an incarnated deity... For a ten years old girl, this spelled GREAT AND PERSISTENT problems in the near future.

Oh sure, the puppy-dog-eyes technique and the cute aura effect should helped me... with provoking massive diabetic shocks and creating hounding rabid fans. Sometimes, too much was TOO much.

I generated a simple outfit of jeans, sandals and tee-shirt and began my exploration. Well, it had been fast: Yonaguni Island, a 28 km² island and the westernmost one of the Yaeyama Islands. The Yaeyama Islands were part of the Ryukyu Islands, themselves part of Japan and included Okinawa as the most known of the lot in the world.

Less than two thousand people including the rare tourist. One airport and a half-a-dozen little seaports. It was a small area and it took less than two hours for me to learn what was needed and found myself drinking a nice cup of green tea in the only police station of the island.

I took the time to sense my inner core to determine what I could do with my initial charms: It seemed to be oriented towards comprehension, integration and evasion. I certainly wasn't a front-line fighter and beside I couldn't really test my powers discreetly: Not enough energy if I needed some charms later.

It was at that police station that I began to built my public persona: I couldn't hide my nature, but I could let them pigeon-holed me into a standard nice and proper recently triggered parahuman. Especially after discovering and then using _Mastery of Small Manners_ powered by my Personal Essence pool to avoid building up my Anima Banner.

"So, you don't remember anything?" Masato- _Keishi_ was the Superintendent of this police station. A fifty years old local man with just a hint of letting go his trained body weathered by age and mileage. He had clear steel grey eyes, a small pepper moustache and an overall serious and stern mien.

"I do remember many things, but it's almost a complete jumble that will take time to organize." I shook my head. "There are, in fact, far too many memories. I know that some of them are not mine." One of those memories was a perfect mastery of the Japanese tongue and included all their writing systems.

"And you're sure that you are a... recently triggered parahuman?" Nurse Fudo was a young plump Japanese woman with a nice smile and steady hands. She examined me after I entered the police station and stated that I was lost without parents, with a faulty memory and a recent triggering due to the total solar eclipse. She also indirectly told me my three sizes, my height of 1m40 and my weight of 40 kg.

I held a gentle smile and expended one mote of Peripheral Essence in a precise way. They gasped as my caste mark burned and shone on my forehead.

Superintendent Masato tapped his lips with a finger. "Right... Well, don't worry. It shouldn't be too hard to conceal your identity as so few know that you are a parahuman..?"

I waived while projecting sadness at him. "Those protocols won't unfortunately be needed in my case. I intuitively know that using my power produce a cumulative side-effect which this." I indicated my still glowing caste mark. "Is far from being the least in power and reach."

Miss Fudo frowned. "You can't control or more exactly stop those effects?"

I nodded. "No, this astrological symbol is going to persist at least an hour before I can switch it off."

Masato blinked. "Astrological? Oh, right: This is the classical symbol of the sun in western astrology." He sighed and began to write a report, taking time to probably consult the few procedures the police had concerning parahumans and asking me a few questions at intervals.

It shouldn't be too difficult for them to help properly a well-behaved and well-educated young girl. I managed to hint through my name to either naturalized foreigners or a mixed couple for my parents. My native-like Japanese would also help to think of me as a Japanese citizen.

And I didn't lie. Well, I did say some half-truths, didn't reveal other full truths and didn't correct them when they assumed some things, but I didn't lie to them even once. A good habit to have since some powers, tinker-tech and plain scientific items could discern my lies and I didn't have the appropriate charms for now.

I eavesdropped, while talking with the nurse, a phone call to the mayor of this island, the honourable Shukichi Hokama as I understood. This should ensure that I would board a plane for Ishigaki airport on Okinawa and then after I caught more attention from the government I should more probably be sent to Tokyo.

Their handling of my name brought a concealed smile on my lips. Although they did identify me as Luminous Amber in proper English, they did mark it as a translation of my name in Japanese: Hakkõ Anbã. Well, when you saw how some parents named their children, I shouldn't have too many problems using it as a nickname or a nom-de-guerre.

The problem of the non-existence of my parents in this world should be lessened by the fact that they had what appeared as a genuine parahuman with potentially useful powers and probably easily controllable as a ward of the state due to my young age. I knew that most of the previous Japanese parahumans perished in Leviathan's assault of Kyushu. Ten years shouldn't have produced many new parahumans, and probably most were villains because of Japan's economic crisis and the conflict bias of the Shards.

Oh, I could have hidden on the island and developed my charms, but it seemed inefficient and time-consuming and would have raised too many alarms.

I had to think like them and categorize my powers by using the famous PRT classification: I was essentially a low middle tier Trump with low sub-ratings in all the other classes. I could use an internal energy source and boost or supplement the skills I learned. I could create new applications, but it took time and training. I was no Eidolon and I was limited by both my skills level and my understanding of Essence.

There could be a problem when I used occult-based charms and my knowledge of Thaumarturgy and Geomancy. That didn't include all the artefacts I could build with Magitech and Genesis, but I was optimist.

But more importantly, I needed to be seen and heard and to be able to interact with Society because it was the duty that I accepted with the mantel of Solar...

I was here to rekindle the Hope within the heart of Humanity.

I was here to guide them on the way to Greatness.

I was here to remind them of their accomplishments, to show them that there were no obstacles, but only challenges.

I was here to prove that the impossible was possible.

I was here to teach and lead, not to control.

I was here to be a Beacon of Light in the grimness and darkness of this universe.

I was here to see them crush those space-whales and I was here to sing their glory as they went beyond me in the infinity...

 _Yes_. I felt my conviction roared within my blazing heart. Let us begun here.

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Notes: Phew... that was intense.

Yes, I had the choice for my character to stay hidden and build her own power-base or contact the authorities and worked with them.

Staying hidden was a good idea, but I think it would take too much time. Working with the Japanese government have its own problems, politics mainly, but I bypass most of the logistic ones. Besides, I don't want to be hindered by the PRT and the Protectorate.

Keishi is a rank in the Japanese police meaning Superintendent.

For my character, well I can say that all her attributes are at maximum human level on all planes. Thank you Charles Atlas Superpowers advantage.

Strength 5, Dexterity 5, Stamina 5.

Charisma 5, Manipulation 5, Appearance 5.

Perception 5, Intelligence 5, Wits 5.

She has Essence 2, Willpower 8, Compassion 3, Conviction 3, Temperance 3, Valour 3, Personal Essence 14, Peripheral Essence 34(5 are committed) and the ten initial charms of a new Solar.

Charms known: Mastery of Small Manners and Ox-Body Technique.

Flaws known: Child (+5), Obligation to protect the world (+4), Amnesia (+4) and Code of Honour (+1).

Merits known: Eidetic Memory (-3), Esoteric Craft for Magitech and Genesis (-2), Past Lives (-5) and Essence Sight (-5).

Artefact 5: Infinite Resplendence Amulet.

She should receive other backgrounds in the future. Most notably the Familiar background. I am right now hesitating between a classical horse and an Iriomote cat.


	5. Exaltation 4

**You are Exalted!**

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story.

Arc 1: Exaltation.

Chap 1.4: Adopted by the Rising Sun.

I was looking at the city of Okinawa-shi or Uchinaa in the local dialect from the balcony of a cheap hostel room as I contemplated my decision to go to Japan to begin my quest for saving this world.

It was a bad idea.

I looked back at the many pamphlets, magazines and books on the bed. The authorities of Okinawa had welcomed me to their islands and I was scheduled to meet many people in the future. There were a few tests done that revealed my considerable physical might for a ten years old girl and the first tier university-level of my skills. On the PRT scale I was a low level Brute, Shaker and Thinker. In fact apart from history, I blew up all their tests. I used this pretext to acquire recent publications about Japan and the world and I discovered that I made an error.

In my defence, I was not that knowledgeable with the Worm setting.

Oh, I knew the big picture, but it's always the little details that make everything crash.

I knew about the Entities, the true nature and name of Scion and the endless quest to escape the Heat Death of the universe by trying to use the imagination and wits of others to somehow create energy ex-nihilo. And, of course, how the Space Whales destroyed everything after it failed to beginning the cycle again somewhere else.

I knew about the true origin of the Endbringers, their nature, their powers and how they tried to circumvent their enslavement.

I knew why Cauldron was created; how they acted; who was their biggest guns, the secret behind the cases 53 and why they thought they were justified in what they did and will do.

I knew the true power of Taylor Hebert; how she became Skitter; how and why she interacted with the whole of Brockton Bay and how she escalated into Khepri.

And I knew the global situation of Earth Bet... Somewhat...

I remembered a handful of my past lives being angry at the late Chejop Kejak for his wilful blindness, Great Curse or not and I was doing the same thing.

To be frank, Japan was completely screwed: After the destruction of Kyushu by Leviathan, the economy of the country was down the hole and didn't seem to coming back. They were no more than a third world power. Almost no export and they were barely able to meet their import needs.

There was a massive brain-drain to other countries and anyone who had the money went somewhere else. Cancer rate was through the roof due to the contamination by the nuclear reactors sunk with Kyushu. Almost ten million people had been killed and the morale of the population was lower than just after the end of World War Two.

I knew that nearly all the Japanese parahumans had been killed by Leviathan, but even the few remaining and most of the new ones were leaving the country and since I already knew about Lung and Oni Lee, I really felt like I should slapped myself.

And the cherry on the top was the Ultra-nationalists. It reminded me about the Japanese self-isolation during the Edo period of 1615 to 1868, especially the political decision of the Tokugawa government decision to reduce foreign influence, so tourism and the interest of other financial and industry groups were no longer encouraged and sometimes even actively barred out. Of course, it wasn't as if the whole world economy depended on ALL the countries on Earth, right? And I wasn't about to speak about the corruption in the bureaucracy and their links with criminal organizations.

There was no PRT as the role was taken by the JSDF and there was ONE official hero team. Which was good since there was also only one official villain team...

"Nippontai" was a government-sponsored group of currently five members who did public relation appearances, assisted the local and national authorities and provided help in case of emergency and disaster. They were all low level parahumans on the PRT scale and generally cooperated with the JSDF when they were confronted by bigger problems. They operated mainly in the Tokyo area and depended on the military for transport and logistics. The only good point was that the JSDF seemed a little more efficient than the PRT, of course they didn't have the big fishes that the USA had.

The villain team was called "Okami", but they were mainly low-level thieves and wanted only to survive in this insane world and to be left alone. Of course, they also operated in Tokyo and clashed regularly with Nippontai and the various criminal organizations, Yakuza mainly. They had also, big surprise, five members. In fact they really reminded me of the Undersiders of Brockton Bay.

There were a few Rogue-type parahumans here and there, but most left Japan as soon as they could.

As for the population: Prostitution and drug-using had sky-rocketed. Some region experienced rationing and the black market was doing a killing. Youth gangs proliferated and urban violence was a normal part of life. All this was exacerbated by the education elitism that the government tried to maintain. They needed well-educated people which needed well-educated teachers and most of those who strived to be well-educated bought a one-way ticket once they had their diploma. The school landscape looked sometimes like a blend of Hentai mangas and "Battle Royal" with under-aged prostitution rings, gang fighting and bullying.

In brief, Japan was a non-entity in the Worm setting. I was sure that it was referenced by Cauldron, the PRT and the Protectorate as simply as the location of one Endbringer attack and the country of origin of many of their villains.

 _NO!_

Damn it! No! I won't let it go! I won't go the hermit way, seized a part of the world and build the first steps of an empire as a warlord. I was better than that! They were better than that! They were not garbage: They were soiled rough gems that only needed a good wash and polish to shine by themselves.

If I needed to dirty my hands with blood and ashes to reveal what they were; if I needed to tarnish my halo with darkness to let others glowed then by the Unconquered Sun I WILL do it!

I breathed deeply to calm myself. It would be tough, but I could do it. As the Chinese proverb from Laozi said: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Let's take this step...

And hopefully avoid falling down the stairs...

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It worked better than I thought initially.

It wasn't too surprising while Japan needed all the help they could have, they couldn't really pay well for it.

Most of their procedures for parahumans were copied from their American allies. However, they didn't have a Ward program and preferred to send their young capes to the USA. There was nothing mandatory and if I wanted to stay and help then I was welcomed.

However, the elephant in the room was there wasn't a very good foster system in Japan. Most of the children under the care of the state lived in Child Welfare Institutions. Normally, they housed 50 to 80 children, but could go to 150 for some. The institutions varied widely in style: Some were organized into small units of six children in home like settings, others have dormitory rooms of 12 children, some mixed boys and girls while others kept them separate. Some institutions provided excellent care and saw a very high percentage of their care-leavers progressed to university. Other institutions seemed outdated with a staff to child ratio of one member for four children. And there weren't many volunteers to help.

The Senaga Institute of the town of Tomigusuku near Naha, the biggest city of the island, was... average. It was the only child welfare facility of the island of Okinawa and housed a hundred of children from 3 to 18 years old. The ratio was of one member staff for three children. The landscape was semi-urban with a small wood and the nearby ocean... Not too bad actually.

The director was an old woman that gave Grandmother vibes. Madam Uehara seemed to be both competent and fair, a rare blend. We hit really good at first sight. She and I talked about what would be done with me in the future and what I should do at the institute.

It began with good hopes and faith: I would introduce myself to my peers, but I should hid my parahuman factor at first until I was completely integrated. She acknowledged that rumours would rapidly reveal my nature, but would prefer a gradual approach. I was forbidden to abuse my physical strength except in emergency to protect myself and my peers. Since my education was outside the capacities of the staff, I would be taught by various tutors coming to the institute: It wasn't the first time that a child needed specialised education in this institution. The possible trainings and parahuman tests well outside a normal education would be handled at the JSDF anti-aircraft training facility.

As time progressed there would be PR appearances, good-will travels and a few interviews for various media. But that was not for now. In brief, I understood that they hoped to cultivate me as a national hero and a rallying point for other parahumans.

And, of course, it crashed when confronted by reality... A rather ironic thought for a Solar Exalt. Oh, the children weren't monsters, but I was a new face in an established order. There were cliques and a pecking order. They were all of Asian phenotype and I showed a strong North European phenotype. And I was beautiful like a goddess. The numbers of black glares when I presented myself to them was almost a physical sensation.

The children were mostly girls of 12 to 14 years old. The few dozens of boys stayed mainly with themselves and interacted only with girlfriends and the rare siblings. The youngest followed the various leaders and the oldest focused on their education. There was two main cliques: One was numerous and composed of normal girls with normal feminine interests. The second group was a few tough-looking teenagers and seemed to live on the shady side of life. I felt like a puppy in a bowling game. Bullying was mainly passive and consisted of harsh words. Violence was a big no-no and was reduced to shoves and demonstrations of strength. The staff was competent, following the director's example and rapidly acted with efficiency. I was encouraged to make friends and to talk about my problems. No, frankly if I wasn't in the Worm setting, it wasn't too bad, more like Arcadia than Winslow.

I rapidly imposed myself not as a follower or a leader, but as a neutral party and a good listener. Well, I did have to experience a few light hazing. Having all Craft skills at the professional level was very helpful to repair broken things and the staff appreciated it. I was a powerhouse in the physical activities but I mainly focused on my Martial Art skill. I needed the time to meditate on the flows of Essence that I could perceive. I needed their library and Internet access to learn new things. I needed the tutors to improve my current skills.

As for the boys... It was a nightmare. I was being solicited almost daily. I had to twist a few arms to be left alone by most of them, but I still found "love letters" in my shoe locker. Since I lived with five other girls in a dormitory, I wasn't harassed in my privacy. Well as much privacy as you could have with young teenager girls. My personal items were few since I had only the strict necessary for now. My amulet was a godsend since the local tradition at the institute wanted that clothes circulated rapidly among the girls of the same size so I selected a standard sailor fuku as my signature wear and let them tried the few clothe sets bought for me by the staff.

The boys had one floor for themselves at the top of the main building and the girls occupied the rest. The younger children and the oldest lived in the two wings of the central building which housed the administration and the kitchens. The classrooms were in another building and there was a large sport court. There was one bathroom per dorm and it was a real war in the morning. There was two communal baths, but they only opened in the evening. I found to my horror that I always woke up with the sunrise so I used that to have my exercises the early morning and sneaked into the bathroom before the rush. It also nicely prevented my room-mates to have suspicions about my clothes.

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The small wood at the institute looked exactly like a tropical rainforest, well a very small one at least. It was a favourite for the children as a secret dating location and as a good path for a morning jogging among the staff.

For me it was a good area where I could sense the natural flow of Essence as I ran and leapt among the trees. It was like a wire-fu film as I jumped up and across 5 to 10 meters from tree to tree.

I let my instincts guided me and I found myself in a very nice grove. I smiled and lie down in the grass, closing my eyes and letting my Essence ebb and flow in harmony with the grove's rhythms. It was invigorating, it was as if... "I was in a Demesne...!"

I got up and really _looked_ at the grove. No... It wasn't like a Demesne where Dragon lines gathered in a natural pool of Essence, it was more like... a gate..? Yes, more like the gate to a Spirit's Sanctum! I shook my head: The grove was the crossroad of two small Dragon lines and at the exact nexus, there was a Spirit Gate, the door to a spirit domain. I focused on my Essence, willed on my caste mark and triggered _Spirit-Detecting Glance_.

Wow! It was a Torii, a Japanese temple gate in red wood. I breathed deeply and lightly touched the threshold between reality and spiritual. Feeling a connection and a curious mind I spoke for the first time since Aeons in Old Realm. " **I am Luminous Amber! I respectfully asked for permission to enter!** " After an instant, I disappeared from the grove as if I was suddenly aspired into nothing.

I gracefully landed on a path of cut stones. The dimmed tones of reality had been replaced by the vibrant nature of the Spiritual Plane. Here everything was pure will, Essence and faith. The grove had been replaced by or more exactly regained her true nature of a luxuriant valley. I walked the path to a Japanese pavilion with an old Japanese woman with silver grey hair and emerald eyes kneeling at the front. She was clad in a vibrant green yukata and I could see the motifs of trees and leaves swaying in a non-existent wind.

" **Welcome to my Domain, Daughter of the Sun. I am Verdant Wind** (Midori Yutakana Kaze)."

I bowed to her, letting Mastery of Small Manners guided me. She smiled and began a small tea ceremony to signify that I was really welcomed and confirmed that there was no hostility between us. We didn't speak at first with words: A glance, a raised eyebrow, a little smile or an inclination of the head were whole speeches during a tea ceremony. Enough to ensure to both of us that we had business, that I was here for knowledge and that I was an Exalt and not a God-blooded. It was at the last revelation that she betrayed her immense surprise through a trembling cup.

" **It's been a long time since** **a chosen of the gods** **walked** **the Mortal Plane even for a little terrestrial god** **like me** **.** " There was a wishful sigh. " **It's only because of my very** **own** **nature that I know what you truly are, Daughter of the Sun. What knowledge do you require of me?** "

" **Only what you think I should know.** "

She laughed and spoke. And I listened.

The mystical texture of this universe wasn't Creation, but I could easily draw parallels and associations: Essence was still the basic building block of reality. The universe carried his own chaos and its infinite potentiality within itself. The main Planes of Existence were the Infinite Material planes of mortals where Science and Magic could coexist, the Celestial Planes of the Pantheons which were the only places were the Divine could be found, the Infernal Planes where the negativity of Existence coagulated and the Netherworld which was the collective realms of all aspects about Death just before the Threshold of Oblivion. There were also some various lesser Planes more or less linked to the Material Planes like the Shadow-world where the shades of the dead could persist and reached the living, Arcadia where the True Fae reigned and touched the Dream-world and the Spiritual Plane where Elementals, Spirits and Terrestrial Gods lived and ensured the Natural Balance.

The Celestial Gods had left the Mortal Plane when the faith in them diminished to the harsh lights of Science. Only the mad and the insane attempted to breach Hell and were consumed promptly. The Netherworld continued to keep its secrets and always changed itself according to Faith. The Shadow-world was becoming bloated day after day. The Fae were seen only in dreams. The Spiritual residents of Reality withdrew themselves when Mankind stopped listening to Nature. And of course...

" **Then the paired Outsiders broke into our plane. Their whole species was stained by the blood and tears of a thousand worlds. And they saw our mortals only as a food source.** " She shook her head. " **Too few of them see that their own world is on the verge of Oblivion. Almost all of them use the tainted gifts of the Warrior and the few who tried to forge weapons from the flesh of the Thinker are only poisoning themselves and cursing thousands of innocents when they experimented.** " She looked straight into my eyes. " **We maintain contact between all the spiritual enclaves regardless of the origins thanks to the mortals who disseminated their myths through all the world. Your arrival cannot remain secret, Daughter of the Sun.** "

" **That is not my intention.** " She blinked. " **I am going to work closely with the spiritual world as I help the mortals to rebuilt and preserve their planet and gradually to reopen their eyes on the nature of Existence.** "

She visibly paled. " **Does... Does that mean that you are going to renew the Old Oaths?** "

" **It means that I am going to forge new ones.** " I smiled. " **But only with mutual consent.** " She didn't hesitate and gripped my offered hand. " **I promise help against the Natural Order and a voice to speak for those who aren't heard.** "

" **I promise a place for training** **your gifts** **and** **making your** **Great Workings and my Seal for your introduction to the local Spiritual World.** "

My will and my power flared as I called upon a power etched in the heart of my Divine Spark. A rusted and almost non-existent prayer path built into the very fabric of the planes burst anew with golden energy, reaching the very Heavens. My Anima burned brightly, swirling with the words and runes that gave me the absolute right to sanctify an oath. " _ **SO BE IT!**_ "

I stayed until my Anima Banner calmed down, visited the lovely little shack with a bare area for training that Verdant Wind sculpted out of her Sanctum and profusely thanked her before leaving the colourful Spiritual World for the muted tones of the Material Plane.

I was too giddy about what happened and neglected to be aware of my surroundings as I walked back to the jogging path. A large hairy hand muffled my mouth and a sweaty limb lifted me from behind, blocking my arms. I was so surprised that I compounded my initial error by letting my aggressor transported me back into the thicker wood.

I was soon throw down on my back and gazed up my kidnapper. It was an ugly fat Asian man in the forties with an unshaven toad-like face sporting a creepy smile and the naked blade of a Balison knife in the hand. "Shhh... Good girl don't make a sound... Hee hee heee... Good girl stay down and let daddy making her feel reeaall good... Hee Heee..."

I didn't listen to him. My eyes widened as my still active Spirit-Detecting Glance could see two shades trying to stop his arms.

A shade was the echo left by the Dead. Like the higher soul-part Hun and the lower soul-part Po of Creation, Reality had the Soul who went the Netherworld and either entered the Reincarnation Cycle, went to the Beyond of their faith or passed the gate of Oblivion and reached That Is Beyond Any Understanding.

What was left on the Material Plane was a remnant, an echo of the person that could only persist through an Anchor. An anchor was what maintained the shade in existence until it was broken. An anchor was anything important to a person at the exact moment of her death. It could be an item, a loved one, a place or the very cause of their death.

I could see their young age. I could see the mask of suffering on their tearful faces. I could see the wounds of the knife on their skins. I could see the marks of strangulation and of the violation of their bodies. They were just girls of my own age... I saw red...

"You... _SCUM!_ "

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Notes: This Japan of Worm is what I could find and deduce from the various wiki. If you have insights or knowledges, don't hesitate.

Nippontai is stolen from the game "Nova".

What I wrote about Child Welfare in Japan is unfortunately true. It's much less darker than in Worm, but it's based on real facts.

And yes, there will be Yakuza, Amber cannot really escape them unless she leaves now.

I hope that the Spiritual World was a good surprise. Think of "Spirited Away" and other works from the great Miyazaki for the mood.

I also hope that my cosmology was viable and structured enough. It's a blend between "Exalted", the various settings from the "World of Darkness" and the game "Scion".

Luminous Amber

Favoured Abilities: Martial Arts, Craft, Medicine, Occult & Dodge.

Charms known: Ox-Body Technique, Spirit-Detecting Glance & Mastery of Small Manners.

Background: Artefact 5, Allies 1(Verdant Wind), Contact 1(Okinawa government) & Resources 1.


	6. Exaltation 5

**You are Exalted!**

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story.

Arc 1: Exaltation.

Chapter 1.5: The cunning of Dragons and Falcons.

I grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it in his face. He gasped in surprise, took a step back and tried to rub it off his eyes. I curled my legs up off the ground and kicked them up into the air while at the same time arched my back powerfully. The Kippup manoeuvre bounced my body off the ground and to my feet.

The man finished to rub the dirt off his eyes and blinked at me as if he couldn't understand why I was resisting. The sole of my left feet lashed up to the side of his hand holding his knife and kicked it off into the thick vegetation.

Jeet Kune Do was not a martial art per Se: It was actually an all-encompassing way of looking at the martial arts. Pioneered by the late Bruce Lee, Jeet Kune Do was characterized by a fast, efficient and powerful fighting style.

I was small in height and weight, with a small reach against an adult: My speed and my legs were my best weapons. His face was colouring as rage overpowered his lust. I feinted with my right arm then quickly launched a roundhouse kick to his face as he followed my feint. I then delivered a following spinning back thrust kick breaking his nose and putting him mewling on the ground.

"You killed those two young girls after you quenched your depraved base desires! Their blood on your hands screamed for Justice!" My caste mark was glittering on my forehead and his pained eyes widened in dread.

I imperiously pointed my finger to him and named myself in Old Realm. "I am **Luminous Amber**! As a Lawgiver, I judge you guilty of the most heinous murder of two children and sentence you to death!"

I jumped up over him into a high somersault and landed on his windpipe crushing it. I heard his gargles and violently pivoted my foot sensing his neck breaking and his spasms abruptly stopped.

I turned to the shades of the two girls: They appeared lighter overall and on the verge of dissipating. I wasn't a Zenith, but I could offer those remnants one last thing apart a prayer. I reached with my arms and my Anima and freely given motes of Essence poured out, bringing at least a smile before the golden radiance erased them peacefully. They weren't truly sentient and their souls were out of my reach, so why was I crying?

I returned to the corpse of my first judgement. I didn't want to take the risk of a shade lingering so I used his clothes to prevent the blood from his face to spill around and hauled him deeper into the wood avoiding the grove of Verdant Wind and the Dragon lines. I frowned as I saw the tattoos on his skin. "Yakuza..." I whispered.

I buried him by using my knowledge of Thaumaturgy and most particularly the outdated but still full of helpful hints _Proper Funerary Practices_ from Creation. It enabled me to put his remains where the tropical climate should make short work of his mortal flesh and animals couldn't dig his body out. I also uttered a rapid prayer to whoever could hear me for a swift reincarnation so that he worked out his karmic debt.

It was only when I saw the buildings of the Senaga Institute that I suddenly dropped out of the red haze that tinted my vision and mind. I promptly puked out behind a bush. In the name of the Unconquered Sun, what happened to me?!

I knew that there was no Great Curse in the Worm setting, but then there also shouldn't be any type of Essence-related matters. It seemed that lines of control were directly built within my Exaltation when I accepted this task. Well, now I had all the appearance of a parahuman with a conflict bias and a traumatic trigger...

The situation seemed to be MUCH more complicated than I thought first. The Cosmology seemed coherent, but was decidedly a surprise. Creation no longer existed... Perhaps that was the key: Creation has been sublimed into Existence. It was both there and not there under the very fabric of Reality, but until one called upon those specific forces directly, they simply didn't act. They were simply present behind a dynamic balance of the Natural Order... They didn't need to act unless someone with the proper authority asked them to act.

Nevertheless, I had passed judgement on a mortal and I had … killed...

Was I feeling guilty..? _No_... It had been under a compulsion, but the decision was still based on me. However, it had been the easy way as I could have easily captured him and gave him to the authorities and I regretted making this choice.

At least, I hoped that it would have been my decision then. Human society had laws for a good reason. One didn't act simply because he could... Even if he had been a dangerous murderer and a rapist.

I thought that whatever _Geas_ were present in me were there to force the issue between me and the problems of the world. No letting only the others fixed the trouble, I HAD to be personally implicated. I remembered one of the few instances when one of my past lives heard directly the words of the Unconquered Sun: "This world is broken. Fix it."

I also remembered the Ancient Pacts of Creation that still lingered and influenced this world and I remembered...

The Mandate!

The fucking Mandate of Heaven!

The Creation-Ruling... No... The _Existence-Ruling Mandate_!

I sat abruptly on the ground. No wonder I was so eager to make a new Oath with Verdant Wind or happy to renew ties between the whole Spiritual World and the Material Plane... I had the proper AUTHORITY. It was my responsibility and a dozy... I was a Lawgiver... a Prince of the Earth... a Princess of Existence... I snorted in laughter. Why was I hearing the group Queen now..?

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Before my physical exercise routine, I greet the sun as I did every morning in another life. I prayed to the Sun and what it represented for me. It was... complicated as all things dealing with faith were. If I simplified it extremely: Faith in the Unconquered Sun was my Faith in Humanity...

Contradictory, right? I was here to fix the world because Humanity failed against the Entities and yet I have faith in their success to overcome it. Oh, I knew that if Taylor Hebert wasn't affected too much by my presence, she should be able to save her world.

And I could also expand on my faith. I could profess that I wanted to protect Existence from all threats to its natural order; I had to respect my peers; I was to bring righteous anger to those of Darkness; I was encouraged to love my others, those I called closed ones and family; I should be kind to Nature; I should pity those who abuse Science; I was to show magnanimity to those weaker than me and finally I had to regret my faults and acknowledged them... Yeah, tall order and rather holier-than-you pretentious. And the Sidereals were surprised the Solars fell...

And yet... I wouldn't be here if I didn't believe in those values. I wouldn't be here if I didn't follow Compassion, Temperance, Conviction and Valour.

I was still deep in thoughts as I entered the Grove of Verdant Wind and absently changed my jogging outfit in a Blue and Green Jade yukata marked with birds and trees. It had been a few weeks since the "incident" with the Yakuza rapist. No one had discovered the body so far and his friends, if he had some, didn't appear around to search for him.

The Terrestrial Goddess was simply the warden of this patch of forest near the institute. She had been more powerful before Mankind reduced her wood to built their city, but she still retain a modicum of her former majesty. A majesty she used to have a different representative of the various Spiritual Courts of the Ryukyu Islands each time I visited her. One funny point had been the discovery that while Old realm, or Old Tongue as they designated it, was universal, most courts preferred to use the local mortal language.

"Welcome back, Daughter of the Sun." She was fond of that title for me. She turned to another spirit seated next to her on the porch of her pavilion. "May I present to you Yoko of the Many Faces, resident trickster of the Yaeyama Islands." Despite her humanoid form with red hair and green eyes, I recognized her as a nine-tailed Kitsune of the Japanese folklore, a very powerful one. Many of the Asian Spirits had Tell nearly identical to the Lunar Exalts. "Yoko, may I present my host and friend Luminous Amber, Daughter of the Sun and Sacred Oath-keeper."

I drew upon my experience to navigate the delicate labyrinth of Asian Spiritual Etiquette. I knew that I just entered the proverbial spider's web as this Yoko was superior in rank from the spirits I already met. "Greetings Trickster, it is a pleasure and an honour to be presented to you." As she revealed her signature nine fox-tails, I flared my caste mark. I knelt in front of her and I let Verdant Wind served the tea before we could speak more casually. I could read in the mannerism of the wind and wood spirit that this meeting had been... forced on her.

The green eyes of the Kitsune twinkled with mirth as she metaphorically opened fire. "Hello my dear, it's been way too long since the Heavens remember us." She waited for me to take a sip. "And what those old farts want with little us?"

I calmly finished my sip, evading her opening gambit as Verdant Wind couldn't hide a gasp. "Nothing. They didn't know I was here." She put down her cup noisily and raised a fiery eyebrow. One point to me. I looked straight in her eyes. "I am here on the behalf of more primordial forces than gods."

Yoko frowned. "More primordial than the Celestial Host, I find this part a little hard to believe, my dear." Strange that she continued to be so blunt. Kitsune were more renowned for their cunning... Or was she truly. Essence sight can be a marvellous gift as I now noted the too regular features of a normally chaotic spirit. I could have gone for the cunning thrust, matching my wits with this spirit to cut through the glamour, but I suddenly recognized the trap.

"By the Pact bound for Eternity. I hereby call upon my right as a Crowned Sun. No treachery nor tricks. Truth be revealed and spoke without malice. A meeting of equals under the banner of friendship and the eyes of my ally." The Eclipse mark burned golden on my forehead, I have just taken a high risk.

And it paid: Yoko morphed suddenly into a... DRAGON! It... no... He was a towering 25 feet long with six limbs above me, blue and golden scales thick as an armoured plate and a mane of dark blue foam-soft fur around his neck. His reptilian emerald eyes, the only thing he kept under his kitsune disguise, gazed down on me and a little amused smile curved the right side of his impressive maw... especially the fangs.

I didn't move despite my full body tensing and the subtle change of the yukata weave in unseen Moonsilver to boost my defence. I heard Verdant Wind to my side, completely flabbergasted. "Lord... Lord Seiryu!?"

Oops... I didn't have anybody here, but one of the leaders of the Five-Fold Spiritual Court of the whole Asia and a Lesser Elemental Water Dragon. Although there was nothing lesser in his presence right now, especially to a new Exalt with only the flimsy protection of an Oath of Aeons past.

"You could have ask for more than just a meeting of equal and friendship hardly mattered when Oblivion threatened, Exalt of the Sun." The dragon coiled upon himself to lower his head nearer to my level. We were entering into the meat of the subject.

I nodded. "I could have and then proven that I was no better than an "old fart" to you." He laughed, shaking the area with his mirth. An honourable but cunning foe with a sense of humour. As fluid as water, both on an Essence and willpower level. Secure in his power but not afraid to go in the field. I worried many high-power people with my encounter with Verdant Wind.

He inspired deeply. "Your scent is pleasant and strange. You're an unknown and yet my being recognizes you. Your blood is of Mankind and yet you bear the unmistakable signs of the Divine. You called on non-existent Pacts that could have granted your heart's desire and you used it for your protection and the protection of your friend. You are a riddle my dear."

"I am a chosen of the gods, noble dragon. But I am not here to destroy or replace. I am here to repair what is broken and build for the future. I am here to ensure a proper future for the Natural Order."

"Under whose authority and patronage can you speak of such things?" He showed more than a hint of fangs. Ha..! Here was the reason of his confrontation. Abandoned by their Celestial peers, the Terrestrial Gods could not and would not suffer a heavenly mouthpiece. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same: There was a cold war between the Spiritual Plane and the Celestial plane. Which also meant that proxies of both sides existed.

"I am **Luminous Amber** , a Harmonious Voice. Under the Pact and my own Honour I say that I hold the Existence-Ruling Mandate. Forged by the Most High of the Ancient Gods and gifted to the Lawgivers long before this Age. Still existing but no longer used... Until now."

Silence... Deep silence... The kind that seemed to be louder than a Heavy Metal concert... And seemed to stretch for an eternity.

Seiryu nodded slightly. "Very well, Oath-keeper, your word is registered and acknowledged. But this is the kind of things that can only be discussed with a full court. I will inform my peers of your existence and nature." He turned to Verdant Wind. "My apologies to you, Warden of the Grove for impinging on your domain. I met beforehand the Kitsune Yoko and asked to replace her to meet your guest. I own you a favour for my deception, would you ask me something now or hoard it?"

Verdant Wind had regained her equilibrium during the little diplomatic dance and was serenely seated near newly versed cups of tea. Ever the gracious hostess, she served us before taking a sip. I could sense her pondering on the Lord Dragon's words. "If it is all right with you Lord of Water, I would give it to my guest as she was the one who asked me to prepare those encounters with my peers."

Once again Seiryu showed amusement as he turned to me. Well, what could I ask of a dragon? "Among the things I need to do there is the recovery of arts lost to the world. My most pressing need is to shore up my weakness in the Arts of War, especially Martial Arts. Is there any such lost treasure nearby?"

The dragon tapped a claw on one of his fang and frowned in concentration. "There might be... Yes! There is such a thing and very near indeed." He turned to me and I didn't like the twinkle in his eyes. "During the battle of Okinawa in World War II, 175 Japanese soldiers chose to commit suicide rather than surrendering to the Allies forces. It was in the ruins of the Tomigusuku Castle which were more destroyed during the battle. Some of the shades of those soldiers lingered and they draw power from a hidden treasure in the ruins. Accessible through the Shadow-world, there is a scroll that describe a whole Ancient Martial Art that is rumoured to have been inspired by the Lung of Mainland. Find this scroll and it's yours with everything else you'll find."

Ancient Chinese Martial Arts, uh? I did note that he didn't say it was a lost art and suspected that some in the Spiritual World retained those secrets. It was another test and it was outside the power of the Oath humming around us. Either I accepted this test of my mettle or I would be indebted for my future meeting with the Five-Fold Court of Asia. There was however a way for me to help Verdant Wind more: A favour, even a debt should not be used so lightly especially with an elemental dragon. Verdant put herself in difficulty when she indirectly signified that she wasn't very happy about the breach of her hospitality.

I held out my hand. "I accept."

Seiryu smirked and a claw gently clasped around my hand. "Very well, the favour is paid."

My caste mark flashed, and a ring of golden light expanded from it, flying through everyone in the Sanctum and dissipating near the boundaries. " _So it is bound, so shall it be._ " Seiryu lost his smirk as the magically binding contract which neither party was capable of breaking without grave consequences took hold.

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"Anbã-chan? Did you see my blue skirt? I was sure I retrieved it yesterday and put it in my trunk." Miyuki pouted as she searched the missing garment. She was a sensible girl of my age among my room-mates with wavy shoulder-length hair.

I smiled. "Try with Saeko-san. She accidentally put it with the rest of her clothes." The tallest and oldest at thirteen of our dorm with short hair and glasses stopped closing her backpack and blinked. She frowned and opened her own trunk and tsked as she found the skirt in question. She was good with music but a little distracted at times.

Tomoe finished to try to brush her messy hair. The official nerd of the group before my arrival, she was the respected leader of the dorm and one of the co-leaders of the clique of boys-and-fashion obsessed girls. Sometimes I was tempted to nickname her Hermione from Harry Potter, especially since she was eleven. She shook her head at me while checking one last time an essay due to today. "I really don't know how you can manage to finish all your homework in just one session with us. Especially with your Special classes."

I didn't have to go to the classes of the children in the institute, but I didn't want to be isolated, even and especially among teenagers. So I participated to some of the artistic and physical classes and made a point to helping others during personal study hours.

The last of our little group was already clothed and waiting with me. We generally beat all the others at the bathroom race. Ranka was the leader of the clique of tough girls despite her young age of twelve. Clad in leather vest and Heavy Metal tee-shirt and sporting varying coloured hair along the year, she was curiously also the most fashion-obsessed of the dorm. She frowned at me. "Really Anbã-san, you could make an effort and not always putting one of our seifuku."

I giggled: The institute was very relaxed on the subject of school uniform and allowed casual wear. The standard one was a white blouse with a navy blue sailor-style collar clasped by a red neckerchief. A navy blue pleated skirt, white socks and black penny loafers completed it.

Ranka never restrained herself and I liked her nonsense attitude. You always knew where you were with her. "That's easy to understand Ranka-san" I held up my hands to count. "Five girls with an average of three sets of clothes different than school-related each. Four of them use one set of clothes a day. We simply don't have enough clothes to satisfy everyone. And we don't want to re-enact the "War of Clothes" of last week, right?"

The girls shuddered with me as we remembered the incident that begun with a borrowed pullover between two dorms and finished with water balloons, pulling bra straps and shaving foam implying the whole building. The boys had retreated when they saw the first wet tee-shirts to escape wrathful slaps. The staff and Madam Uehara hadn't be very happy with us and nobody wanted to have another collective punishment.

Tomoe used the opportunity to corner me between Ranka and her and smirked at me. "So, are we finally going to know what you're learning during your special classes or do we need to guess again?"

Miyuki laughed. "I have heard that a betting pool is organised, like the one about the number of love letters in your shoe locker for a given day." She pouted. "They don't want us to make a bet since Anbã-chan could tell us."

I laughed with the rest of the dorm. "Sorry girls, but you know that I gave my word with Uehara-sama and I keep my promise." I let a little of Luminous Amber out. "Always."

The girls sighed and we left the dorm to join the migration of our comrades to the teaching building. Saeko frowned. "Oh yeah, we know. To the point that the gossip brigade is FINALLY having a hint and leaves us alone when they know you received a confidence."

I shook my head while thinking about one faction of the main clique which specialized into information dissemination as they called it. "Tss... They should know better. A secret known by more than two persons is no longer a secret."

Ranka nodded. "Yeah... Especially after you slapped this bitch of Mariko and suspended Yume over a toilet seat after they tried to shake up little Momoe about her mysterious letters. Still don't know how you managed to lift that big sow of Yume and I maintain that you should have dunked her."

I shrugged. "It was a simple lesson on actions and consequences. I'm not perfect, but I think that humiliation is dangerous and can easily lead to a vicious circle. We agreed to never speak of it again and they apologized to Momoe-chan. The end."

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I opened my eyes as the last of my room-mates reached a deeper state of sleeping, their breathing and heart rate slowing down. Treating it as stealth training, I slowly arranged my bed to look like I was still here while silently sliding down on the floor.

So far, so good. My nightclothes re-weaved themselves into a classical all-black ninja outfit extruded from Moonsilver. I was but a shadow moving in the night. I quickly exited the dorm and made my way to the bathroom I prepared this evening. " _Do not hear_ _her._ " whispered my amulet to reality. Good, the window was still opened and I scaled down the building, my outfit changing colours like a chameleon as once again my artefact muffled my presence. " _Do not see her._ "

The ruins castle were a few kilometres away. I dodged the bright lights of the city by using the roofs. Yes, I was roof-hopping like a movie ninja, my skills and my amulet ensured I wasn't seen or heard.

I looked at the ruins under the pale glow of the moon. I timed my path to arrive precisely before midnight. I knelt and prayed to the Unconquered Sun, finishing the last step of a ritual dating back to the First Age of Creation: Five daily prayers at sunrise, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and midnight to call on the blessing of the Sun.

Fortified by my patron, I reached into my Elsewhere pockets for my weapons. It was just a series of lengths of sharpened steel tubing: Two were appropriate as pointed clubs, the others as thrown items. I took the time before this mission to prepare Ghost-Smiting Salts, real easy as it only needed gum, salt and incense fumes and coated those improvised weapons with it enchanting them to be able to harm ghosts.

I focused on the Essence flows to see _beyond_ mundane sight. Good, only a minor nexus of Dragon lines and no mystical barriers of any kind. I reached what was left of the castle gate and pricked my finger. I anointed my eyelids with blood to be able to see ghosts without using a charm then I concentrated until I perceived a shimmering grey curtain and touched it with a small drop of my blood.

It was as if I burst a giant soap bubble without a sound. I had been in the ruins of a castle dating back to 1400 and I was suddenly in front of the gate of the same but intact castle in all his faded glorious past. Around me wasn't the night of reality, but the perpetual twilight of a Shadow-land. There wasn't a moon in the sky and I gasped as I recognized the stilled stars pouring a dim and cold pseudo-light: The Messenger, the Peacock, the Quiver, the Treasure Trove, the Haywain,... The phantoms of the 25 constellations from Creation glared down on me. Another echo from a past age...

I shook my head before the sight triggered a flashback from my past lives. It wasn't the right time for this. I entered the castle, searching for its inhabitants.

There was two dozen of shades wandering the castle. They were soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army, gruesomely showing spilled guts and decay and it was strange... Where were the previous owners of the castle? I understood that the shame of ritual suicide anchored those shades here, but...

I paled as I looked more closely to the equipment of most of those soldiers. It was ghost-forged items that could only have been built by using the shades of any ghosts wandering near the castle as raw materials. I needed to be sure and searched for an isolated ghost.

It had been easy: He was a young man, a boy really, probably conscripted when the Allies came closer to Japan. I ambushed him by using a corner between two corridors. My steel pipe penetrated his skull via his throat. He dissipated with shocked eyes as I relieved him of a canteen.

I examined the item. Yes, ghost-forged from an actual shade. It was curious it had a lily engraved on it... I trembled in outrage and horror as I _read_ the lingering echoes embedded into the item. The Himeyuri Students! Sometimes called the "Lily Corps", there was a group of students and teachers from women's schools of Okinawa and mobilized into a nursing unit for the Imperial Japanese Army. More than half of them were killed or killed themselves during the Battle of Okinawa.

Right, all scruples I could have just vanished. I began to systematically hunt the lone ghosts in a macabre imitation of hide-and-seek. It wasn't long when they realized they were under attack and one of them used a hand-powered alarm siren.

The dozen survivors played right into my hands by gathering in a large hall with columns as an officer began barking orders. I reached into my hammer-space and threw several paper packets of consecrated salt at the ceiling. They screamed as the salt cloud ate at their necrotic substance and many fell down, their shades fading away as they finally succumbed to Death's embrace.

The officer roared an incomprehensible order to his remaining troops as he pointed his type-98 Shin Guntõ sword at me. They all drew type-95 Guntõ swords and charged, yelling war cries and imprecations. I ran away.

I reached a specific room, threw a vial of my own blood inside and hid myself nearby. They took the bait of blood not used ritually that any ghosts could smell a long way off and swarmed the inside of the room, triggering my trap.

Another salt cloud erupted in the small room and I blocked the exit drawing my smaller pipes. Using them like throwing knives I achieved those still moving. Time to confront the officer which had better equipment as I remembered a Kendo armour along his sword.

He was stalking like a lion in a cage when I revealed myself at the threshold of the hall. His angry words were swallowed as I changed my ninja garb into a Chinese-style martial art outfit woven of light-Essence from Orichalcum. My Cast mark burned on my forehead as the light of a Glorious Chosen of the Sun pierced the gloom of the Shadow-land.

"I am Luminous Amber, a Lawgiver and Oath-keeper of the Unconquered Sun." I levelled my storming blue eyes into his void-streaked black ones. "Name yourself."

He gulped. "I am Makoto Fuji, Rikugun-chui (first lieutenant) of the Imperial Japanese Army!"

"Chui, you stand before us accused of destroying the anchors of the rightful owners of this castle and forcing the shades of your peers into ghost-forged items. How do you plead?"

He actually gained some colours as rage seized him. "You... You dare..! You have no rights! You can't have any rights! You're a foreigner, a living _gaijin_!" He spat the last epithet like a curse and a wave of darkness seemed to reach towards me before breaking on my radiance and willpower.

"You stole a castle that existed long before there was an Imperial Army. You soiled the memory of the Himeyuri Students. Not only did your propaganda of systematic rape by the Americans push them to throw themselves off cliffs while others killed themselves with the hand grenades you gave them, but you destroyed their final regrets by forging them into war equipment." I shook myself as a tear glittered on my cheek. "You're not worthy of it, but let's see if your rage is a match against justice." I fell into a defensive stance as I twirled my two pipes in my hands. My clothes gained the white with silver trim colours of the protective Moonsilver.

He snarled and took an aggressive Kenjutsu posture. I let him took the initiative to see what he was. He wasn't faster nor stronger than me, but he had the better equipment in terms of overall protection.

We exchanged a few probing strokes, taking the measure of each others. He used his power to emit a creepy glow to psyche me out, but I wasn't impressed. I broke through his guard, deflecting his mass-produced katana and striking him on the knee. The fact that my weapon could touch his non-living flesh shook him.

I pressed my advantage, my twin weapons and my armoured clothing deflected two of his attacks while I bloodied him more. I unfortunately didn't hear the launched arrow behind me that suddenly pierced my rear left thigh.

I whirled on my right leg to see the hall entry and saw four soldiers with ready bows. The officer cackled as they fired. I moved like _shadows over water_ and with perfect grace and speed ran to the revealed threat, dodging the rain of arrows.

I made quick work of them and the leader tried to use them to corner me. But I was _too fast_ for his blow to land and he killed the last of his men himself.

He turned to me as I hit his hands between my two weapons. He screamed as he let go of his sabre and I snatched it in the air. I whirled again and the blade bit his exposed neck, severing the head. I watched impassively as he faded into Oblivion.

It was as if a great weight had been removed from the land. The Shadow-land was still gloomy and creepy, but there was a sentiment of accomplishment. I bandaged my wound and gathered all the ghost-forged equipment to later let them fade away in the morning light of the sun. I then searched the whole castle for what Seiryu promised me.

I found only three things of interest: A sword, the source of the Ghost-forged items and a scroll.

The sword was a preserved Tsurugi, a Japanese sword from the Kofun period, circa 250 to 538 AD, identical to a Chinese Jian, a two-edged straight sword. It was a _perfect_ blade and I gratefully accepted it.

The source of the ghost-items was a big surprise: An actual artefact from Creation. Re-purposed from his original design, but nonetheless a magnificent discovery. It was a _Wondrous_ _Belt_ _of Perfected Tools_ , something that would enable me to craft without problems at a high level. I could even forge artefacts without problems if I used the belt with Craft-specific charms.

The scroll was what I was searching from the beginning: A manual describing a full Terrestrial Martial Art Style: _Five-Dragon Style_. It represented all the aspects and carried with it some of the power of each of the Elemental Dragons from Creation, though it diluted the strength and religious import of each. Practitioners of Five-Dragon style considered the straight sword and the spear to be form weapons for their style. The style was also compatible with armour.

I exited the castle and the Shadow-land and regained the Institute without difficulty. I took the risk to wash myself at a sink and rechecked my wound: I had been lucky, it could have easily been my chest or head instead of my thigh. Clad again in nightclothes, I sighed in contentment in my bed after checking that my dorm-mates were still sleeping. I _marshalled my inner resources_ to boost my recovery and as I fell into sleep I could sense the blazing glory of my Essence searing the wounds and bruises from my flesh.

12345678987654321

Notes: Not bad, not bad at all. I'm writing more and more.

I confess I choose Jeet Kune Do for the visual impact I saw in Bruce Lee's movies.

I know I'm not a Zenith: I didn't burn a corpse, I dissipated two satisfied shades.

Yes, no Great Curse for the character, only geas from Worm CYOA ver3.

I hope I didn't confused too many people with the values of the character. They are based on the values of the Unconquered Sun.

The scene with Seiryu wasn't supposed to be like that. He just... kind of become like this as I wrote him. He acted like this because he is powerful and used to do what he wants. Amber is a potential threat to his agenda. He is not evil, he has plans that didn't include her until now.

Amber didn't threaten Seiryu, she regained the control of the discussion, rather forcefully. THAT is what is going to influence the meeting with the Five-Fold Court of Asia.

The scene with her room-mates is about characterisation and a better picture of where she's living.

I hope the fighting scene at the end was good enough.

The belt is a level 3 artefact I created: It gives 2 die bonus to all crafting checks and enables to craft with Magical Materials.

The Tsurugi is a perfect straight sword: speed 4, accuracy +2, damage +5L, defence +2 & rate 3.

Thank you for reading me.

Luminous Amber

Abilities known: Martial Arts, Melee, Thrown, Integrity, Resistance 1, Medicine, Occult 2, Athletics, Dodge 4, Stealth, Linguistics & Socialize 2.

Charms known: Ox-Body Technique, Body-Mending Meditation, Spirit-Detecting Glance, Mastery of Small Manners, Shadow Over Water & Seven Shadow Evasion.

Background: Artefact 8(Infinite Resplendence Amulet, Wondrous Belt of Perfected Tools), Allies 1(Verdant Wind), Contact 1(Okinawa government) & Resources 1.


	7. Exaltation 6

**You are Exalted!**

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story.

Arc 1: Exaltation.

Chapter 1.6: Training and troubles.

"Cardiac rhythm is good. Speed is still 18 mph... Incredible..."

Professor Sakura Mayuta was a biologist specialized in Physiology and came from the rare scientists that stayed with the Japanese Self-Defence Force instead of going for the more lucrative civilian world. She was young, idealist and something of a maverick: Not a good blend in the traditional and elitist Japan, the fact that she was also a woman compounded the problem.

I was being tested in the JSDF Anti-Aircraft Training facility of Okinawa. Not many equipment or even state-of-art ones, but the team under Mayuta-sensei knew how to improvise and used whatever was available.

I was running on a training mill with many various captors stuck to my body and an apparatus measuring my respiratory exchanges. The team had improvised with IR lamps and an ingenious little transparent shack with dry ice and ventilators around me to simulate hot and cold environments.

While Nippontai, the Japanese Super-Hero Team followed somewhat the Protectorate guidelines regarding rules, training and equipment, I was a ward of the state and officially under the command of the JSDF. Which was a nice paper fiction regarding an under-age girl. There was a sort of cold war in the Japanese government between the Ultra-nationalists, the Moderates and the Traditionalists. This absence of a central decision concerning me and the fact that I was a volunteer had enable the JSDF to snatch me.

In my opinion, the Ultra-nationalists were complete idiots. They wanted a politic of isolation of the nation, a rather extreme one with a concentration of all national resources to "guide back Japan to its rightful place in the world"... Ha! They wanted to stop the drain of brains and bodies to other nations and they wanted to prevent any foreigner on their land. I noted that it didn't concern the money, since they always protested that the international help wasn't enough. Many radical and extremist groups followed their ideals and violence exploded too many times.

I would called the Traditionalists a band of utter morons. They seemed to think and even expressed that Japan needed only time and a few international resources to come back stronger than before. They "counted on the willpower of the Japanese people to do their utmost duty for the nation..." Yeah, sure, and I had also nice piece of land in the Sahara just for you. They didn't seem to acknowledge that Japan was on a descendant spiral with less and less resources that prompted people to go elsewhere and that reduced the available resources and so on and so for.

The Moderates, with the current Prime Minister were, well... moderate. They tried to accommodate everyone, and unfortunately the other two factions. They wanted to do something, anything really, but couldn't gather enough support from either the population or another faction. Which was too bad because most of the people were moderate in sentiment, but their morale had been broken by the sinking of Kyushu and the faction didn't have the money and/or the will to broke through the general apathy.

The JSDF was... Well they didn't know exactly what to do with me now that they had me. Yeah, that's a laugh. One must understand that they had many problems. As its name indicated, the JSDF is geared towards self-defence. They weren't the aggressor but the protector. Unfortunately, that hamstrung them rather severely. Unlike other armies in the world, their combat doctrine didn't have what they CAN'T do but what they CAN do. For any situations they had to follow a precise guideline and that hampered their efficiency. The trauma of WWII had engendered a strong pacifist sentiment and a visceral abhorrence of the Nuclear Weapon. Thus the total absence of any offensive systems and a lack of projection of forces. Finally, they were dependant on the USA for many of critical key systems, not including intelligence gathering and military research.

The advantage for me was that the Japanese Prime Minister was the commander-in-chief of the SDF and I was already under his responsibility as a ward of the state. Through many intermediaries and subordinates of course. The SDF was an all-volunteer organization: I was a volunteer. I was a woman: They opened combat positions to women since 1992. They had to compete for qualified personnel with better-paying industries: That changed following the Brain Drain to other countries. They used to have a lower battle experience than many western armies: They were gaining plenty of it, fighting for their nation on its very ground.

Finally, since the almost complete eradication of Capes by Leviathan and the going to greener pastures attitude of most newly triggered Capes, the JSDF had somewhat regained the favour of the public as their defenders and I was a new Cape, easily malleable because of my age into a figurehead or beacon. And Rules of Engagement for Capes weren't in any of their current doctrines.

That said, they were a little haphazard in their training of me.

Mayuta-sensei smiled. "All right, Hakkõ-san. That's it for now. Remarkable that it was without the bleeding effect of your aura when you use your Brute classification. I can see the correlation between your sun-based theme and what you can do so far. Still for a trigger event during a sun eclipse... Next is the strength testing and then the dexterity one." I slowed down and waited for the staff to remove their equipment from me. I thanked an assistant with a towel and a water bottle and went to the area next to the mill.

As I said, it was a simple series of test: Various weights for me to lift under the eyes of cameras and then some juggling, rapid manipulation of small items like cards and games geared towards coordination. Easy as pie. The physical tests were nothing to be worried about, it was the skills training that was the real challenge and interest for me.

Gunso (sergeant) Toshiro Kamazaki was a grumpy man in his early fifties and appeared only thirty. He was almost the stereotype of the tough-as-nails Army Sergeant who terrorized his troops and trying to make them "real men even if I have to kill you for that..!" That said, he was also a family man and it had been a little awkward at first when he confronted my ten years old self.

Most of his methods were based on intense physical training, but I was already out of bounds even when compared to the standards of elite commandos. I could lift 225 kg easily, hold my breath for 150 seconds at least, exercise heavily for 10 hours at minimum, run up to 25 mph top and jump 5 meters up without running. So he went with the other sides of military training: Equipment and specialities.

Training with the unarmed combat system of Toshu Kabuto, a simplified and direct style: "Good, Hakkõ-san... Now help me down from the fence and less enthusiast next time. Thanks the Kami for padding."

"I did warn you, Gunso."

Disaster management: "No Hakkõ-san, you do not abandon the entire Diet by pretending a communication blackout in order to save the civilian neighbourhood... Even if I acknowledge they're all a bunch of useless ass..."

"Gunso! Remember my young virgin ears!"

Firearms use and tactics after I reminded them that 7 to 12 years old children could learn a basic civilian course in the USA: "Nice grouping with the handgun, Hakkõ-san. But that was the target for the next course on rifles, you should have used the nearer one. Oh, and also use only one handgun at a time, we're not filming the next Jon Woo."

"Oops... Sorry, Gunso. At least I remembered all the safety lessons."

Tactical and emergency medical uses: "How the he... heck did you know he wasn't simulating..." I pointed to the blazing mark on my forehead. "Right, right, boosted skills... And you corporal, don't think I won't ask why you came to work ill..."

"Say Gunso? Do you think I could try my hand at some impromptu field-surgery, we have a complete functional kit."

"What do you mean? You want to practice field-surgery..? Corporal, come back! She was joking! I hope..."

Active response in case of guerilla and killer on location: "Yes, I know I did say there was nothing important behind the wall. That's not a good reason to pass the terrorist THROUGH the wall: We're trying to minimize collateral damage, NOT make more, Hakkõ-san. The poor dummy will never be the same... Why are you so pale soldier?"

"Well, he DID volunteer to play the killer in the next scenario, Gunso."

Combativeness and melee weapons: "No Hakkõ-san, a 100 kg container doesn't make a proper weapon, especially as a thrown projectile... Even if I think it makes a good deterrent, it's better to use it as cover." I sighed and put down my other weapon, smiling at the dummy under my "little" projectile. "And no, you can't use a bench like a staff, you're not Jackie Chan. And next time, go for finesse and not for the nuts, that's the second dummy you demolish..." I giggled, retrieved two telescopic combat sticks, turned to my future sparring partner and frowned as he was trying to hide behind the scowling sergeant. "Hum, what do you think you're doing soldier?"

S.E.R.E. with an emphasis on evasion, camouflage, navigation, field medical, survival and a little sniper training: "And four "laser tag" hits... Damn, she managed to hit all four targets despite having the whole squadron searching for her on a limited terrain they know and that she light like a flare mine when she goes boosted... They never going to live it down. All right! Hakkõ-san, you win! you can show yours..." I discretely deactivated the camouflage of my amulet and get up. "Holy..?! How did you manage to sneak up to FOUR meters in front of me..!?" One of the soldiers searching for me came to whisper something to sergeant Kamazaki which looked at him flatly. He made a certain bet before the beginning of this exercise. "...No soldier, I don't have any ketchup to go with your cap."

Vehicle handling and CQB: "Very good, Hakkõ-san. I wasn't too sure about your height, but you did it. However, we don't use other vehicles as jumping platforms and we don't rip off the conductor's door to take his place... Even if it was faster."

"Right! Sorry Gunso, I forgot myself during the action. By the way, do you think I could have a few lessons concerning your helicopters?"

"What..? Helicopters..?! I don't think learning to fly would be..." He frowned at a panicked-looking soldier exiting the vehicle I just used. "Soldier, I said to stay in the vehicle until the end of the exercise...You're looking a little green..." The soldier actually knelt and garbled something to Kamazaki. "...No, she's not going to learn to fly! Parachuting maybe..." Wailing as if Hell was pursuing him, the soldier then began to run away. "SOLDIER!"

Radio and sensors operations: "Perfect, Hakkõ-san. Morse code, procedures, basic EW,... You're qualified for the standard electronic equipment of the JSDF and 80% of the Americans' one. Ha, one lesson without..."

"By the way, Gunso. It would be prudent to call maintenance, I had to make a few repairs on the left display."

"What do you mean you had to repair the left display..?" He seemed a little alarmed.

"Yes Gunso, it was nothing. One or two faulty calibrations on the main radar dish that induced a 1.2% error on distance."

He blinked. "Faulty calibrations on the radar..? How did you even know..?" He shook his head considering the fierce Anima Banner around me and the sun-bleached chair I was using. "Yeah, of course boosted skills and the power of the sun... I need a vacation..." The soldier that try to run away and was currently punished by being a designed volunteer to all my activities whispered something in his ear. "...No soldier, not you... What..? Going back to the civilian sector..?"

I was smiling and laughing with them at the end of those training sessions. A Solar excelled in the use of her skills. It was an intoxicating feeling to have that power coursing through my veins, to reach and surpass the human limit, to will yourself to succeed and to recover smoothly from failure. The flows of Essence within my being were becoming more and more clear to me. There was also the fact that in 5 hours a week, I was learning a full month of intensive training.

It was also with the men and women of the JSDF that I discovered my full Anima Banner. Until now I never really found it as I limited myself in the expense of my peripheral Essence. It stunned them, awed them but they also found it very appropriate. It also earned me a nickname unfortunately: "Gao-Hime-chan" wasn't really all that glorious. I wasn't a mascot, damn it..! At least, now I fully understood what Vista of the Brockton Bay Wards felt in regard to her public image... Which meant that clandestine photos of me would circulate soon and I didn't want to think about the future shipping and the "ecchi" drawings.

* * *

I sip the soothing Olong tea that Verdant Wind served us. The past event with the Elemental Water Dragon Seiryu and the consequences of my actions were... very serious.

Verdant sighed as she put down her cup. "You're not asking..."

"I'm not sure what to ask." I pinched my nose. "I guessed there was a good reason for the presence of Lord Seiryu. I know I made an error when I mentioned the Existence-Ruling Mandate. I should have stayed with the use of the Ancient Pacts between Spirits and Exalts: It would have perfectly ensured we stayed in good terms without resorting to weapons of mass destruction. I didn't have to trick Seiryu into an Oath concerning his little test: He was honourable and my little stunt trampled his personal honour... Damn it! I really fuck things..."

Verdant Wind winced. "Well... It's not entirely your fault... I mean... All right, let's take this from the beginning although I will focus only on the spiritual side and let the others planes of Existence for another time." She coughed discretely. "Hum... Seiryu-sama took the place of the chief trickster spirit of the Ryukyu Islands. It was his right to do so because he is one of the 5 leaders of the Five-Fold Spirit Court of Asia. That give him full authority on any Terrestrial Gods in Asia."

She nodded to herself. "The Five-Fold Court and ALL the equivalent courts on the Spiritual Plane originated with the various Pantheons created by Humanity. We spirits, existed since the very conception of Existence. Existence was composed of Essence and thus was everything and has a form of consciousness of itself. At first we were simply a part of it. We didn't exist in a conscious way and all the functions we assumed were automatic, natural, instinctual and ordered in synch with the overall consciousness of Existence. We certainly didn't have our actual forms, couldn't even conceive to not did what we did and we manifested on the Material Plane only as natural phenomena coming on a metaphysical point from under and beyond it."

She paused for a moment. "Then Humanity began his ascendency from beasts. They were different from everything because there was a... Spark in them, another consciousness like Existence and yet different that didn't direct them but inspired them. Instinct was present, but reason grew and gradually dominated. From this spark in them came the values of Compassion, Conviction, Temperance and Valour and their freedom to be able to choose. It combined with the Will behind Existence and with it they generated Faith: The capacity to utterly believe in something, anything and to give power to that thing."

She shook her head. "It is unknown, even for us, if the design was already present or came spontaneously into existence, but the concept of Fate then simply also was present. The Netherworld and Oblivion came into being or perhaps were revealed with the first death of a sentient being. It was then that Humanity began to name and classify us as it witnessed the natural phenomena around them. Faith could affect and change us, it was giving form, power and sentience to the spirits: We could now interact with Humanity."

She bitterly smiled. "They had and still have a rather binary view on all things: Yin and Yang, negative and positive and all their infinite combinations. Under their faith, spirits were separated in two great categories: Terrestrial Gods responsible for the material aspects of Existence and the Celestial Gods that tend to the abstract concepts. Initially we all lived in Harmony, because Humanity and us that were influenced by faith seek stability, order and understanding."

She leaned to me. "We then begin to teach about the only thing that we always instinctively knew: Essence. Humanity grew spiritually and reached Enlightenment, enabling them to wield Essence in the forms of Sorcery and Supernatural Martial Arts. Their brightest also explored the power of their own minds and developed Psionic, imitating our own innate powers. Although, it never exceeded past small effects and never accounted for something significant." A tear shone in her eye. "It was a golden age, the civilisations you know under the current names of Mu and Atlantis rose during this period."

She bit her lower lip. "But Mankind was never a coherent group. War is a part of its existence and war brings necessity which brings invention. Their intellect began to expand to the detriment of their spirituality. Humanity's Intellect engendered or revealed 5 elements of their own. They were dependant on the 5 original elements and yet different. From Wood, Air, Water, Fire and Earth came Oil, Crystal, Steam, Lightning and Metal. And then... Everything changed."

She took the time to sip anew her now cold tea and grimaced. "Understand that while we existed before Humanity, we became dependant on them to give us clear goals and a conscious reason to be... well us. We didn't want to return to our mindless state. When Humanity turned to Reason and created wonders of their own, they gradually shifted their faith away from us. Power and identity fled us and some gods even begun to fade away into raw Essence. Unfortunately, Existence is dynamic Balance. When Humanity forget us, they lost also what we brought them. Essence usage became a myth then a legend. Humanity couldn't even progress on the elements born from itself and focused on the material aspect of the world, the only constant they have without searching for it."

She laughed weakly. "The following schism was only the cherry on the top. Both God factions began to quarrel and accused the other to be responsible for the situation although both agreed on Humanity's failing. The Terrestrial Gods blamed their counterparts for inspiring Humanity to seek out knowledge. The Celestial Gods blamed us for providing the very natural phenomena that push Humanity into asking and searching why everything material was. We were already divided into factions of our own, based also on Humanity faith into the Pantheons they created. When one nation conquered another, they pushed their own belief system on the invaded."

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. "What I am going to say is our side of the story. So far I stated only facts as I know as truths. The Celestial Gods retired themselves from the Material Plane, trusting that the separation should allow them to continue their existence even if they had only themselves, the concepts they represent and a few sporadic believers to generate faith. The Terrestrial Gods, angered by what they call abandonment and cowardice closed themselves from Humanity. Their ironically own faith in Humanity was shattered and they decided to let things go and turned away from Humanity liked they did to them. The advantage we have is that we still received a trickle of Faith because as long as natural phenomena exist in the eyes of Mankind, we will exist."

"I... see... I think..?" I was deeply troubled. That explained a few things and reinforced the monumental stupidity I did with Seiryu. And those 5 new elements... My stomach knotted on itself: I could almost taste the names of the two primordial forces behind Existence and Humanity and the balance they created... "What do you think about Lord Seiryu and his little spy act?"

"It wasn't a spy act, but a deliberate attempt to draw out the truth about you. He suspected that you were a Celestial proxy, most probably someone having some blood of the gods and initiated by her progenitor. As I said before there are a few descendants of God-blooded in the world and we are weary of those individuals. Both factions sporadically use them to advance their agenda, generally for preserving a critical area, retrieving an item or implementing an Essence-gathering ritual."

"In other terms, he was here to kill me." I shook my head. "It's probably this hostile feeling that put me on the defensive and I reacted strongly... Too strongly." I reacted like a Solar of old. Another geas, an echo of my past lives or simply my wounded pride? No wonder why Solar diplomats used so many compulsion-based charms.

"There is also the precedent that many of those people tended to use their knowledge for their immediate gratification and tried to acquire more at any cost. Thus, why I was presenting you gradually to a few key Terrestrial Gods to prevent being tainted as a power-hungry upstart... Your revelation of the Existence-Ruling Mandate, even if you didn't use it, didn't play well for you."

"And my use of my power to sanctify an oath?"

"A more personal error as far as Seiryu-sama is concerned. There was probably something belonging to him inside Tomigusuku Castle, either the Martial Arts scroll or something else. And since he came with this test almost immediately and with your oath... Well, he might consider your act as thievery."

I sighed and face-palmed. Yes, my situation required it.

* * *

Notes: Curiously, I'm not satisfied of this chapter.

Probably because there is only characterisation and a bunch of precisions about the world in general.

The training was inspired by various civilian courses available in the USA and the information I could find on the JSDF.

Oh, well... Next chapter: Iriomote Island. At last!


	8. Exaltation 7

**You are Exalted!**

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story.

Arc 1: Exaltation.

Chapter 1.7: Iriomote-Jima.

"I can't believe we're finally here! This is going to be the best school trip EVER!" Miyuki Kanzaki, clad in a pale yellow summer dress, danced on the pier of the town of Ishigaki.

Ranka Daibuji sighed and caught the arm of her room-mate before she ended in the water. "Please stay calm, Miyuki-chan. We still have to take the ferry and I would prefer that you don't drown yourself before our arrival." The tomboy was more sensibly clothed in blue denim shorts and light vest than her habitual leathers.

Saeko Akagi checked for the twelve time that her camera was still strapped at her wrist. The artist was in a short grey skirt with a white blouse. "All right, we're almost there. Let's stay with the main group, I want to take a few shots in the ferry."

Tomoe Kaze ensured that her straw hat was firmly anchored to her head and whirled in her short western dress at me. "At least, this time, you're not in your school uniform, Anbã-chan."

I smirked and looked at my jeans and navy-blue tee-shirt. "I'm not always in a fuku, Tomoe-san. Sometimes I'm in bloomers."

The group of girls from my dorm groaned at my little joke. The Senaga Institute regularly organized school trips in the Ryukyu Islands. Sometimes they also went to Central Japan with Kyoto and Tokyo as the regular destinations.

The ferry travel was without any particular incident except for the teachers with us who needed to herd fifty children. Trust me, cats are nothing compared to teenagers released in the nature.

We arrived at Ohara Harbour on Iriomote Island and the teachers explained our tour one last time: We could wander a bit along the way, but we were to stay in groups of five or more. We have to walk along the east coast up to the Iriomote Wildlife Centre and had a lunch. Then we had to go up to Uebara Harbour to take a boat and go down the Urauchi-gawa river to see the Mariyudo-no-taki Waterfall. We then had to return to Ohara Harbour, buy whatever souvenirs we may want and finally take the return ferry.

Miyuki laughed as she looked at the pamphlet with a map of the island. "This is great. The weather is fine and we saved plenty of money to buy a few things. Nothing is going to spoil this little adventure."

I looked at her with horror and turned to my room-mates. "Oh... no... Now, we're DOOMED... If anything happens, it was Miyuki's fault."

Miyuki gasped in outrage as all her comrades nodded at my prediction. "Hey!"

I laughed with the girls, but I felt uneasy. I was an Exalt and fated to have "an interesting life" in the Chinese curse meaning and I was in the Worm setting which implied conflict until the Entities were dealt with... Nope, not a good combination.

Saeko took a few pictures of all of us in front of the statue of the famous Iriomote Cat on the harbour and we went on our way. There was a heavy sensation that made me feel like Dorothy on the Yellow Brick Road... Hope I wasn't going to sing as if I was in a musical...

The East coast was the proof that Mankind could respect nature. Blue sky and blue ocean, the cries of the gulls and the transparent quality of the water: Truly an aspect of the paradise that is Earth and Mother Nature.

Hoshizuma no Hama Beach or Star Sand Beach is made of one of the most unusual types of sand in the world. It was the bones of one species of protozoa in the ocean, over millions of years old fossil skeletons. The local people believed that the Star Sand fell from the wings of fairies. We searched for some, but found only really small specimen. I discretely collected many in my Elsewhere pocket as I might find a use for it later.

The Iriomote Wildlife Centre was oriented towards the Iriomote-yamaneko ("Iriomote mountain cat"). The locals called it yamamayaa ("the cat in the mountain"), yamapikaryaa ("that which shines on the mountain") and meepisukaryaa ("that which has flashing eyes"). They were a critically endangered species with only an estimated 100 population size.

We admired "Yon", the only Iriomote Cat in captivity on a video camera. The male cat was fourteen years old, the longest known lifespan of any Iriomote cat. It was in a large outdoor cage and was the survivor of a car accident in 1996. Medical complications prevented its release back into the wild.

"Oh... He is so... CUTE!" Tomoe had a little obsession with felines. She promptly used half of her money to buy some paraphernalia in the Centre. All related to Iriomote cats and Yon of course. I was more interested or should I say worried about the Habu, a local species of pit-viper with a 3% fatality bite.

We took lunch with a nice view of the ocean and I gleefully ordered Chanpuru, an Okinawan stir fry dish of tofu, spam, egg, moyashi (bean sprouts) and goya (bitter melon).

Ranka rose an eyebrow. "Why are you so happy with such a typical dish, Anbã-chan?"

I laughed. "Because I can say that it is the first time I eat such a treat."

The girls blinked and looked to each other. Ranka slurped finishing her ramen and reached for a dish of sata andagi, a plate of sweet deep fried buns of dough. "You're really weird sometimes, Anbã-chan."

We finished our lunch and walked the north road that should take us to Uebara Harbour. Saeko continued to take photos, most notably of the many panels about the Iriomote cats in the area, telling by-passers to reduce speed.

I saw her suddenly froze as she was taking a shot of us in front of a panel. "Girls... Don't make any sound and slowly look to your left."

We followed her whispered suggestion and I could hear the soft gasp of Miyuki, the sudden breathing in of Ranka and the little cooing sound of Tomoe. There was a very characteristic cat pointing its head out of a bush at a dozen of metres of us.

Saeko kept her camera directed at it as it emerged from the bush and took a few graceful steps on the road and I could hear her taking photo after photo. "It's so beautiful... It's a real cutie... I never thought we could see one live in nature."

"Whatdowedo? Whatdowedo..?" Miyuki was almost hyperventilating.

"We don't move and we keep whispering... This is really rare since they're nocturnal. It should be sleeping in a tree hollow or a cave at this time... Must be a transient young male... Look at its fur: It's magnificent..." The male cat I was admiring had light brown fur with the characteristic five stripes along its head and dark brown spots covering its body like a leopard. I didn't see a white spot on the back of its inquisitive ears which confirmed its was a young cat. Its light amber eyes were calmly and curiously looking at us.

The cat and I heard it before my room-mates. "...no..." The sound of a fast vehicle approaching. "No..." The cat followed its instincts and pounced along the road, trying to reach the safety of the other side. "No..!" It almost made it as the range-rover took the curve behind it. Too fast. "NO!" The left side of the bumper caught it in mid-leap. The wet sound of the collision turned my blood to ice. I was running to the fallen cat as the driver visibly not a local and realising his stupidity, accelerated away.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Ranka was threatening the runaway vehicle with her fist.

"Ohgods! Ohgods! Ohgods!" Miyuki, completely panicking, was biting her knuckles.

Tomoe, pale as a ghost, was running after me while Saeko, grinding her teeth, took a photo of the departing car, hoping to catch its numerological plate.

I knelt near the bloodied cat. It was still breathing. My eyes focused on it and I _saw_ the hidden truths of its pains: It was dying. External and internal bleeding, most of the bones of its left side were broken and already some organs had failed.

 _No..._

Tomoe was alarmed as my hands reached to it. "No! Don't touch it. It might claw at you. We must wait for..." She abruptly stopped and back-pedalled as the Glorious Light of the Sun erupted from me.

First, I _willed_ it to know no pain like those who served faithfully my exalted predecessors were blessed with. And then I began to _care and mend_ its wounds. Under my agile fingers Essence was released: Cleansing away infection, re-awakening dead tissues, stimulating cellular regeneration, knitting bones and sinews and compensating for the missing biological mass.

The girls from my dorm at the Senaga Institute stared, awed, at the iconic display of my Anima Banner: A magnificent white and gold male Lion, with a mane sparkling and fluctuating like the corona of the Sun during an eclipse. The totemic image of the King of the Beasts was seemingly helping and protecting the small cat between its mighty paws. Saeko was absently taking photos of the display and Tomoe was alternating between her bleached dress and what I was doing.

I was a brilliant bonfire visible for miles: Even in daytime, it didn't take long for others to spot me.

Within an hour, our classmates of the institute knew where I was, what I was doing, what I probably was and were recording it for posterity. My room-mates had prudently stayed with our teachers to escape most of the questions from our comrades. The veterinarian staff of the Iriomote Wildlife Centre were patiently waiting on the side, somewhat knowing that I was treating and saving the life of the cat.

It opened its amber eyes and gazed into my blue ones. It seemed to recognize I was a friendly heroine of the Sun. A common language of sounds and gestures leapt from _my very being_ and bridged understanding between us.

" _Warm... No pain... Why?"_

" _Light from me. No like pain so heal."_

" _You biped. Biped bad. Chase from den. Why helping?"_

" _Lost my den. Building new den. Want protect all dens."_

" _Wounded. Run among trees again?"_

" _Promise. Heal all."_

" _You Sunflower sky. Smell Alpha but alone. Why?"_

" _Dangerous. Many dangers. Must protect others."_

" _Alone bad for Sunflower. Need Pride for hunt."_

" _Need Pride. Searching for members, den and Iron Teeth."_

" _After pain darkness. Hear Mother Ground. Not time for Eternal Hunt in Warm Land. Join Sister of Light. Help Sister of Light."_

I frowned and hesitated. Comprehension was limited by the animal's intelligence, but... _"Mother Ground? Sure?"_

" _Warmth Green and Soft Breath. I also alone. Want sister to hunt along. Accept?"_

I plunged my eyes into the core of its being. My past lives took also the decision to not be alone in their struggles and many times having a loyal companion made all the difference. _"We be of one blood, thou and I."_

My caste mark blazed into its eyes and my Lion bend to touch its nose as the first threads of a sacred bond between me and it were forged.

I sighed in relief as I finished my medical task after using the antic Call. I smiled and turned to the veterinarians. "It's okay. It's healed." An ovation rang around us. "I treated all its wounds and it should be without pain for another hour. Please check if everything is good."

I rise as the medical staff gently and slowly approached the Iriomote cat. I smiled feeling sheepish at my room-mates who were looking irritated at me. We rapidly found the five of us with a teacher inside the medical van speeding back to the Wildlife Centre while the rest of the group were resuming their tour and gossiping about what happened. Two veterinarians were checking on the calm cat in a transport cage while smiling at the interrogatory I was experiencing and the teacher was trying to not burst into laugh.

Ranka crossed her arms and looked at me flatly. "So... You're a parahuman."

I licked my lips. "Well... I have powers, yes."

Tomoe imitated Spock. "And you just received them or..."

I grimaced. "No, I discovered them a few days before coming to the institute."

Miyuki sobbed. "And you didn't tell us? You traitor..."

I shook my head. "I gave my Word of Honour to Uehara-sama. I wasn't to use my power except in case of a vital emergency and you know I always keep my word."

Saeko put her hand on Miyuki's shoulder. "That's okay, Miyuki-chan. She didn't do it with malice. Besides, she did promised us she would talk about her secrets later." She gazed at me. "Well, now we all know the big secret behind her special classes."

Ranka nodded. "Yeah... And it was... awesome." She laughed. "Wow... That aura... I thought you were a Sayajin for a moment."

"Yeah! And I loved how you were comforting that poor cat while healing it. It was like a scene from a Shoujo manga." Tomoe's eyes were almost sparkling. "Oh, and you'll buy me a new dress to make up for me."

Miyuki dried her tears. "Oh yes, I suppose we should forgive you." She smiled evilly. "That's mean a few little concessions from you of course." She laughed... evilly... "Don't worry, just something "normal" between friends. Bwahahahaha... Ouch!"

Saeko put down the arm she used to give a little head-slap to her disturbed room-mate. "Don't be ridiculous, Miyuki-chan. She never stopped helping us before. Nothing has changed except that we know. She don't need to do more." She smiled at me. "So, what is the story of your origin?"

I nodded, smiling with all of them and my eyes were suspiciously a little wet. It seemed that I forged more links than what I thought. "Yes. I need to bring you up to speed. Our classmates are going to riot if we don't feed the Gossip Monster and I jut paint big targets on your backs. Well, everything begin on Yonaguni-Jima during the total solar eclipse..."

* * *

The return trip had been... a circus. We barricaded ourselves in our dorm and simply fell down on our beds. They simply... Did. Not. Stop.

Who I was? Where did I really come? How did I gain my power? What was my power? Could I show them? Could I do this and that? Did I say everything to my room-mates and why they didn't speak about it? Why was I staying at the institute? When will I join Nippontai? Will I make a new team? Am I a super-villain? Could they have my autograph? And of course my favourite: Will I go on a date with him now?

Unconquered Sun gave me strength. And of course I had to be debriefed by the director and my JSDF liaison who, of course, weren't very happy of my grand revealing.

Oh, they did understand the circumstances. There was also the fact that I awed the entire population of Iriomote for saving one of their precious endangered cats. The posting of the various videos taken by our classmates on the Internet were gaining millions of Japanese followers and an overall glowing report on my actions. I was even becoming a fucking MEME: "Gao-Hime-Chan saving her subject." I suspected a member of the JSDF leaking that particular nickname to the public.

But nevertheless, I made a public demonstration of my power and my identity had just been revealed to the Nation... Well, I was a Solar.

"Anbã-chan...? I hate you..." Mumbled Ranka, not even trying to turn her head to me. I groaned at her.

"We didn't see the waterfall and we couldn't buy even one Chinsuko (traditional sweet sold as a souvenir). I can't feel my body and we just talk to them... Uehara-sama was scary..." Miyuki was trying to dress into her nightclothes.

"And the yummy military-man wasn't better... I could almost feel him trying not to scream at us..." Tomoe had managed to reach the window and close the shutters. I turned an incredulous eye to her. The yummy military? That's what she saw first?

Saeko looked at the camera in her hand. "Well... As we said, it's Miyuki-chan's fault." The girl in question managed to squeak in protest. "At least they didn't take my camera. But I suppose after all the videos of our classmates, it's not that important." She snorted. "I always wanted to be known for my artistic talent, but not like this. Not as an actor in my own adventure on the Net." I giggled at that. I was sure they would be postings on Youtube of my healing with an appropriate soundtrack.

I rose from my bed. "Don't worry girls. It will be all right." I smiled. "Now that I don't have to hide my skills at the institute, I can show and do many things." I reached in my trunk and took a vial of scented medical oil made with a simple Alchemical formula. Caste mark glittering on my forehead, I began to massage my comrades despite their protests and rapidly transformed them into puddles of flesh-coloured goo moaning in relief. The oil would ensure they're in good form for tomorrow...

Because tomorrow: " _It has begun._ "

* * *

Notes: I was laughing a lot during this chapter.

Unfortunately, the Iriomote cat "Yon" died in December 2010 from pulmonary oedema. The species is still critically endangered.

The inspiration from most scenes came from episode 21 of Azumanga Daioh.

The iconic image of my anima wasn't supposed to be a male lion. I wanted it to be a phoenix. I don't know what happened, but suddenly my muse pounced on me with bared fangs and I couldn't say her no.

The word "Gao" came from the sound Japanese use to imitate a lion roar.

I wonder if someone is going to recognize the origin of the words I used to create the bond with my future familiar.

And now, a question for my readers: What should I call my Iriomote Cat?

For now, I have Pikaryaa, Mayaa and Meep.

Luminous Amber

Abilities known: Guns 1, Martial Arts 4, Melee 1, Thrown 1, Integrity 3, Resistance 3, Survival 3, Medicine 3, Occult 3, Athletics 3, Dodge 4, Stealth 1, Linguistics 2, Drive 1 & Socialize 3.

Charms known: Ox-Body Technique, Body-Mending Meditation, Friendship With Animals Approach, Spirit-Tied Pet, Touch of Blissful Release, Second Medicine Excellency, Wound-Mending Care Technique, Flawless Diagnosis Technique, Spirit-Detecting Glance, Mastery of Small Manners, Shadow Over Water & Seven Shadow Evasion.

Background: Artefact 8(Infinite Resplendence Amulet, Wondrous Belt of Perfected Tools), Allies 1(Verdant Wind), Backing 1 (Member of the JSDF), Contact 1(Okinawan government), Familiar 1(First tier of bonding with Iriomote Cat) & Resources 1.

Next Chapter should be about the beginning of a revolution.


	9. Exaltation 8

**You are Exalted!**

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story.

Arc 1: Exaltation.

Chapter 8: Drops of Water.

"I love you Hakkõ Anbã. Please marry me." I blushed. I was sure I was red as a fire-engine when Miyuki knelt and "proposed" to me.

"Doh... Please, get up Miyuki-san! You're embarrassing me." Of course the rest of the class was laughing at me. The traitors.

Since my revelation as a parahuman to Japan, my schedule had been modified a little. I was still receiving military-based lessons from the JSDF at their facility and tutors were still coming to the Senaga Institute to teach me civilian skills not taught in a normal children school.

I was also maintaining my very early morning jogging and using that time to meet with Verdant Wind in her Sanctum and training for my future confrontation with the Five-Fold Spiritual Court of Asia.

However, I was exploiting as much as I could the fact that I no longer had to hide my powers from the children of the institute. What I was doing? I was launching a revolution...

I was pushing my skills and my Essence towards _teaching and training_ all those who would follow me, whatever by personal interest, duty or plain friendship. In brief, I was using my impact as a Solar Exalt and a few charms to elevate the mortals around me.

In Creation they reached a level high enough to forge a golden age under the Aegis of the Solars. You combined their actual Science level, their thirst of knowledge, their sheer potential with the guidance of a Solar possessing the knowledge of Essence and the Universe should tremble.

The staff was allowing and even participating in the experimentation. I exposed the fact that my power boosted the skills I possessed and teaching was a skill. Professor Sakura Mayuta and her team were now a permanent addition to the institute to repertory and test this aspect of my power. Money and resources from the JSDF was beginning to converge around me and what I was doing.

And what I was doing? I was demonstrating AND teaching Thaumaturgy... Of course, not under that name. I didn't want to receive the same label of an eccentric as the parahuman Myrddin.

What pushed Miyuki to her silly act, was a class opened to my comrades and oriented towards the practical and civilian applications of some of my Alchemical formula. More specifically for Miyuki, the capacity to produce luxury items cheaply.

It was simple and basic and it was NOT Tinker-tech. Once someone acquired the knowledge, she could reproduce it without needing a parahuman power. It could be analysed and understood by normal people: It was a SCIENCE... Although my charms could only allow me to teach single Procedure by rote memorizing for now.

I presented Thaumaturgy as something gifted by the many memories inside of me after my amnesia. A repository of human knowledge lost to time. Occultism that was a required skill was simply about the superstition built around a scientific fact and how to excavate it. The only default was it couldn't be automated easily: It needed the willpower of the crafter to properly create something. I could design a process that enabled automatic systems to do it just right, but the Thaumaturgic aspect must be included in it.

I also obtained the help of a lawyer and I was painstakingly patenting everything I revealed, down to the minute aspects. The only flaw was that the government could access my patents until my coming of age or until I gained my emancipation. Oh well, I had already seeded the means to riposte.

And I was only teaching the Apprentice and Initiate levels of the various Arts of Thaumaturgy... Well, not the Summoning, Warding and Death aspects... Much too dangerous or esoteric for now.

For a least time of 5 hours a week, I could teach and train people as if they received an intensive education of one month in one week. That blew them off. Especially since I was tested that I wasn't like Teacher. This infamous parahuman could instantly grant almost Tinker-level skills but also induced a Master effect on the recipient.

And now AT LAST. I had a workshop and resources. I was under observation, but it wasn't a problem for now. I. Could. Create. And. Build. And, especially, I could help personally my classmates...

* * *

I bumped into her as she was slowly exiting her classroom. Kagura Michinobe was one of the minority of children within the institute with serious permanent medical problems. I caught her before she could fall down.

"Thank you, Hakkõ-san. I apologize. I wasn't looking forwards..." I didn't answered, I was too focused on her missing right leg and her crutches. It had been in front of me since the very beginning and I what..? Blinded myself to the human misery around me? Being so arrogant that as a Solar, I was here to save the world? Something _snapped_ in me.

"Michinobe-san... Do you trust me?" She blinked and looked at my eyes. She frowned and became worried at what my face was showing.

"Yes..?" I lifted her in my arms. She was light like a doll, a doll broken by fate. My Caste mark glittered in the dimness of the hallway and silenced those around watching me.

I transported her to my workshop with a countenance that warned that no interference would be even tolerated. My workshop was simply an empty classroom with everything I could have recycled and recuperated from the refuse of the institute and the neighbourhood and whatever the JSDF could spare me in the form of obsolete and broken equipment.

"Hum... Hakkõ-san..? What are you going to do with me..?"

I was already putting her on an old but clean bed and grasping a small white board and a marker. "First, I'm going to examine you and then I'm going to forge your new leg."

She spluttered but stayed silent as I analysed her missing limb. The Art of Bio-Enhancement enabled me to create functional prostheses. In 5 minutes, I had assessed the initial damage and determined precisely what prosthesis was required. I then went to a work station and under her awed eyes, I let _my Essence flowed out_ and sculpted what my mind had engineered.

Within one hour, from recuperated materials, a functional leg prosthesis sprung. I gently put it in place and then helped Kagura out of the bed. She wobbled a little, using me as a crutch for the next few steps and then she looked amazed at my creation and slowly take a step without my help. And another.

"I... I... can... walk..? I can walk..? There's no pain... It bends when I want... It's..." She was crying and I took her in my arms. "Thank you..." Nothing more was needed.

I turned to the teacher and the classmates that followed us during this whole thing. "Please, call Uehara-sama and our resident doctor. It is time for me to properly act. It is time for me to atone for my blindness."

For the rest of the week, I turned into a Sun Blazing machine. I didn't listen to anybody trying to stop me or more exactly to slow down and explained myself. I was only focused on the suffering around me. Small talks and trivial things like eating were of no interest. I had changed my clothes to the most utilitarian outfit possible: A sack would have been more in fashion. My own comfort registered so low, I barely took care of my basic needs.

I went to and look at all the people having medical problems and used my charms to cure them. My crafting abilities enabled me to outfit all the crippled children with adapted prostheses in a few hours. The infirmary had now a full complement of the medical products I could make.

I then proceeded to repaint and repaired all the damaged and not properly maintained sections of the institute, using products from the Art of Alchemy. The grounds themselves were examined, repaired and upgraded if needed. I looked at and maintained all the equipment and infra-structures of our buildings, replacing and repairing what was missing or broken.

With the same Art from Thaumaturgy, I built hand-powered simple and crude machines that could produce synthetic leather and synthetic silk from cheap and common chemicals. The children will never have a problem to clothe themselves again. They never should have to circulate the few outfits they could buy around again to reduce costs.

I planted a garden of edible vegetables on our roof and warded it against vermin, birds and plagues. I used Geomancy to put them in a specific pattern that would call upon the Blessing of the Sun for a plentiful growth.

And then... I collapsed...

I woke up in the infirmary after one full day of slumber. There was an intravenous in my arm and I felt the after-effect of sedatives in the back of my mouth. And I remembered...

I groaned, putting my free arm over my eyes. Ah shit! Another _Geas_!

"Ha. You're awake." I turned to the voice and cringed at the disappointed visage of Director Uehara. "Yes, young Lady, you're in trouble. Our doctor and Mayuta-sensei are going to examine you and give you a clean bill of health. Then you will proceed to my office and we will discuss of your past week and what punishment you'll do and especially what things you will NOT do in the future."

I nodded meekly. "Yes, Uehara-sama."

She smiled a little. "Your room-mates are here and will see you after the examination."

The girls entered after a lengthy and full of pointed questions examination by both a frowning Sakura Mayuta and a scowling institute doctor. They swarmed me into a giant hug full of tears and happiness. Then Ranka slapped me.

With my resilience, it didn't hurt, but I touched my cheek and looked at her a little flabbergasted. "That was for worrying us like that. Never do that again. Promise?"

I sighed. My word was very important to me. "It was probably the nervous breakdown I was due to after my trigger event. That could happen again, so I can't really promise that. But I can promise that I will make all the efforts I can do to prevent it, all right?"

They laughed in emotional relief and proceeded to tease me about my "robot" episode. They accompanied me to the Director office because there was something I should really see on the way.

I looked utterly baffled at the... thing: During my "Limit Break", I had apparently repaired a wall fire hydrant in one of our stairs and then repaired the handrail of said stair... by putting it around the fire hydrant. You couldn't open the damned thing without needing to cut off the handrail.

"Doh..!"

* * *

"So now that's you're fully cognitive, what is going to be your first creation, Hakkõ-san?"

I smiled to Professor Mayuta and pointed to the many notebooks and terminals of her staff. "A computer."

The scientists watched and filmed with awe as I _harmonized Essence_ with second-hand parts off the shelf and assemble a working computer under one hour without any tools. A good thing because we discovered that being exposed too long to my Anima Banner damaged civilian-grade computers or more exactly their semi-conductor components. That baffled me and the JSDF team because none of the sun-bleached equipment I repaired during my episode were damaged. I thought about my lessons on the various equipments at the JSDF facility and concluded that only military-grade items could endure my Anima for a lengthy time. I could also easily designed a sun-proofed substance with Alchemy and in fact discovered I did incorporated it in the paint I used lately, but it was still a pain in the ass.

"Well, don't be too disappointed, it's only a temporary setback, Hakkõ-san." I grumbled and nodded at Sakura. Nevertheless, me, a Solar, thwarted at the beginning by my very power. Of course, they didn't have semi-conductor technology in Creation instead they used... Wait a minute...

I blinked and looked closely at the various electronic equipment in the workshop. They were almost all second-hand, repaired and recycled items minus the few high-tech ones from Sakura team. They were born from Human ingenuity, from the Spark of a Primordial... A Spark that focused on Oil, Lightning, Steam, Metal and... Crystal. "Could it be that simple..?"

Mayuta and her co-workers watched a whirlwind of activity: I was working with a microscope and forming miniature metal structures and putting them into very small glass tubes before using an improvised mini vacuum system. "What... are you doing, Hakkõ-san?"

"I am giving life to an old creation from sci-fi, Sensei." I was already assembling circuit boards and soldering them. An old television set recuperated in the attic of the institute was already in place in a frame with a military electric generator nearby and improvised batteries. The low tension of external power wasn't enough for my creation. "In homage to the writer E.E. "Doc" Smith, I'm naming it the "Lens First Generation Computator". It is based on a simple item: The very predecessor of the semi-conductor."

"The pred..." Her eyes widened. "You mean... Vacuum Tubes!?" I nodded and verified if all the connections were proper, well-ventilated and isolated. The necessity of medium voltage produced a large amount of heat compared to a standard computer. "But... It's completely obsolete... Much too big to be practical to what we have now..."

"Which is how "Ultra-Miniature Vacuum Tube technology" was born under the pen of a writer. I will be limited and I can bypass my damaging aura by using military-grade equipment plus a sun-proofed concoction of mine, but..." I paused and my finger hovered over the switch button. "This is something that will help my capacities on the long term." I switched it on and my hands began to fly across the electro-mechanical keyboard, modules and references appearing on the screen almost too fast for the Computator to render before the next one came. An entire new Operating System based on the **Old Realm** language and symbolism was being _created from my mind_.

Mayuta was perplexed. "And after that?"

"I will use this Computator to design a new and better one and then use it to go into the one thing we all need at first." I turned smiling to her, the Caste mark blazing on my forehead heralding my revelation. "Energy production."

* * *

I could have revealed Essence Power Arrays but... We weren't ready for such an energy source and I needed access to Magic Materials to build it and a Geomantic infra-structure to make it viable. Discovering so suddenly the hidden knowledge behind the reality of Existence would have been more dangerous than Nuclear theory for Humanity. Almost everyone think first about the potential for war for any discovery and Essence Weaponry was more terrifying than Nuclear Weapons or even Anti-Matter. After all, our science could only destroyed our bodies, not our souls.

So I did what I have always done in my past lives in case of a big problem: I turned to the Sun.

Sakura Mayuta observed me as I removed gold from plated jewellery. I had already prepared silver, quick-silver and copper samples. I made an alloy with the gold, silver and quick-silver using a prepared Alchemical process and then carefully extruded a string of copper doped by a very precise lattice of the alloy. I cut and hammered it and placed it within a standard photo-voltaic panel.

I smiled, exposed the panel to the sun and let the JSDF scientists tested it. Sakura was goggling at her voltmeter and rechecking the results of her co-workers. "That's... If I calculated right, you could... power a standard building with... only 400 square feet!?"

I let them continue testing and analysing the solar panel which could power any current home device with less than one square meter and continued to work on the doped thread. It was a more useful material than they thought: It was a room temperature electrical superconductor. And since it was able to store electricity without losses due to resistance, it was the ideal basis for a new generation of Power Cells. Able to stock indefinitely power, rechargeable at will and with and indefinite shelf life, those power cells will help greatly in the future. They didn't need fancy exotic materials and weren't more costly than most of the actual designs.

The final design that I showed them stayed on the screen of my second generation computator, which had the power of a standard personal computer for only a 25 lbs weight. I couldn't built it yet, but I could demonstrate its feasibility in theory: The first practical Fusion Generator. It would be heavy due to the radiation and heat shielding required, but I could build a semi-portable system that could be fitted in a truck bed and provided external power for 5 years before maintenance and refuelling. The fuel, however was still Heavy Water. I would need at least two upgrade generations before my designs could use normal water as fuel.

And everything was reproducible and accessible to Science. I was probably only a few decades in advance compared to the actual technological level.

* * *

I was jogging in the institute wood when the other shoe fell.

He was an average looking Japanese man in his thirties and dressed in a business suit. It was however the look in his eyes that raised alarms: The eyes of a cold-blood killer.

He bowed to me as I slowed down and stopped a few steps from him. He then carefully extracted an envelope from his vest. I discretely _flushed m_ _y s_ _enses_ with the warm golden light of the Sun and I could detect the presence of two other people nearby. The characteristic odour of cordite and gun-oil floated to my nose. There was also an almost cloying cloud of dried blood oozing around this average-looking man.

"Matsu-sama send his regards, Hakkõ-san, and hope he will enjoy your company at a small meeting this end of the week."

Polite and direct. He was here to evaluate me and to suggest a hidden threat. Shades of Lord Seiryu here. But this Matsu used a proxy... No. His main hit-man and enforcer... I was suddenly reminded of "The Godfather"...

I slowly reached for the white stark envelope and bowed to him as the child I looked like. I caught a twist of his lips into a sneer as I managed to give him a false impression of weakness. Gotcha: Not so unemotional as you appeared.

There was no need to reply. My taking of the message implied that I would come or at least send a written excuse. He bowed again and turned back, disappearing into the wood. I waited until his two shadows retreated with him before examining the message.

I frowned as I looked at the lone Mon (Japanese symbol specific to clans) on the envelope: Three black tomoe swirls inside a black circle.

Well, I did think that I would met with them sooner or later. "Yakuza..."

* * *

Notes: I hope it wasn't too much of an info-dump.

Thank you to all my readers for their helpful comments.

It is strange to see that so many of the prodigies of the Solars needed the 5 Magical Materials or Wyld Cauldron Technology.

However, Thaumaturgy is a huge boon to any Mad Scientist.

I project to not advance current technology by more than a few decades, except for some super-science, pseudo-gibberish techno-babble and when I will take on building Manses, Sky-ships and Warstriders!

Prostheses came from Autochtonia and are clockwork designs with only a loss of dexterity and no sensation. I will be able to do organs and better prostheses later.

Alchemy is ridiculously useful to someone with few resources and one or two crafting charms.

The little joke about the fire hydrant is something that happened: Look for "World's Funniest Engineering Fails" on Youtube.

The bit about the radio-tubes based electronic is just a flavouring: It will enable me to bring a few things from the Exalted setting, like AI and robots. The inspiration was the "Lensman" series of novels by E.E. "Doc" Smith.

Most of the inspiration for the technology that I will use come from GURPS, RIFTS, Dream Pod 9, Battletech and Robotech.

Luminous Amber

Essence 3, Willpower 8, Compassion 3, Conviction 3, Temperance 3, Valour 3, Personal Essence 17, Peripheral Essence 41(5 are committed).

Abilities known: Guns 1, Martial Arts 4, Melee 1, Thrown 1, Integrity 3, Resistance 3, Survival 3, Craft 5, Lore 5, Medicine 3, Occult 3, Athletics 3, Dodge 4, Stealth 1, Linguistics 2, Drive 1 & Socialize 3.

Charms known: Ox-Body Technique, Body-Mending Meditation, Friendship With Animals Approach, Spirit-Tied Pet, Second Craft Excellency, Crack-Mending Technique, Craftsman Needs No Tools, First Lore Excellency, Second Lore Excellency, Harmonious Academic Methodology, Solar Parser Efficacy, Software Firm Fingertips, Touch of Blissful Release, Second Medicine Excellency, Wound-Mending Care Technique, Flawless Diagnosis Technique, Spirit-Detecting Glance, Mastery of Small Manners, Shadow Over Water & Seven Shadow Evasion.

Background: Artefact 8(Infinite Resplendence Amulet, Wondrous Belt of Perfected Tools), Allies 1(Verdant Wind), Backing 1 (Member of the JSDF), Contact 1(Okinawan government), Familiar 1(First tier of bonding with Iriomote Cat) & Resources 1.

Next time: Confrontation at OK Corral.


End file.
